Name: Amy Pence-Brown
Location: Boise, Idaho
Photo credits Amy Pence-Brown.
Who is Amy Pence-Brown?
I am a fat feminist mother who believes in opening her mouth and her heart. From both of these places I tell stories – as a writer on my blog and other local & national publications, as a historian and college instructor giving tours and lectures, and as a visual artist creating subversive stitchings and performance pieces. I have been a body image activist for the past 12 years and became internationally known for my radical stand for self-love at the Capital City Public Market in 2015 in Boise, Idaho, which was documented in a blog post, photographs and a video viewed over 200 million times. My message about the value of all bodies, no matter their size, has been covered by numerous media outlets, including CNN, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, People, TODAY, Huffington Post, Upworthy, HLN, the Dr. Oz show, SHAPE, xo Jane, Time and Fitness magazine. I often use my body as a canvas for my art and activism and am also the creator of a subversive art selfie series reviving the plus-sized illustrated pinup girl Hilda which has received lots of international press lately, too. I continue to lead the body positive revolution through public speaking and education, including on the TEDx stage, in classrooms to students young and old, and the Boise Rad Fat Collective, a radical Facebook group with 2,400 people of all ages, sizes, colors, genders and nationalities. Additionally, 5 years I started RADCAMP: A Body Positive Boot Camp for Feminists and Feminist Teens, Be RAD! Be YOU! A Body Image Workshops for girls aged 10-12 and named one of the 50 Idaho Women of the Year by the Idaho Business Review. You can find out more about all of it at the links below in my signature, especially my website but I love using social media as a radical tool in body liberation so my Instagram and Facebook pages are chock full of good stuff.
Amy's Journey: The Stand For Self-Love | Amy Pence-Brown | TEDxBoise
What projects are you working on currently and in the future:
I'm always working on a lot of things at once. This year a lot of my camps and classes and lectures and keynote addresses have been cancelled due to coronavirus, but I've been inspired to create a bunch of art, including more Reviving Hilda portraits https://www.amypencebrown.com/reviving-hilda, a series re-creating famous portraits in the Getty Museum collection https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=idahostyle&set=a.1628342400640001 as well as writing a whole series of poetry I call Poems In A Pandemic https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20s&v=Df_KtSM7FzU.
Photo credits Amy Pence-Brown.
What motivates you in your career:
Injustice and motherhood.
Are there any interesting ideas or experiences that you would love to explore:
As a writer I have lots of work published in magazines and newspapers but would love to have some of my poetry or essays published in a book. I've been actively trying to do so for a few years now and will keep trying! What do you do for fun:
Read a lot, garden, camp, seek out Idaho hot springs, search for unusual treasures at thrifts shops, bake and visit obscure offbeat small rural towns.
Photo credits Amy Pence-Brown.
Why do you feel it is important to have diversity represented in all types of media:
Seeing yourself and your body type represented on social media has been a powerful thing for me in my own body positive journey - seeing other women who looked like me rocking their amazing fat bodies online has been inspiring and revolutionary. That being said, seeing bodies that are remarkably different than yours living a lifestyle different than yours is also important. It opens your mind and heart to diversity in extraordinarily easy ways. I write about this and speak about it a lot, actually. Here's a favorite: https://www.amypencebrown.com/idaho-style/2017/1/2/selfies-for-self-love.
What are feelings on nudity, and positive sexuality. Are you comfortable with it, is there a place for it in art media, etc.
That blog post I linked to above actually talks about that a lot! I use my body as a canvas for my art and activism, and it's often nude, so yes, I'm very comfortable with it. Nude bodies aren't always sexual bodies, but in America our conservative Christian culture equates nudity with sexuality in really negative and damaging ways, especially regarding women. Nudity in art goes back centuries. That doesn't mean that nude bodies can't also be sexual. Sex positivity is an important part of body positivity to me.
Photo credits Amy Pence-Brown.
What does empowerment mean to you?
The actual dictionary definition of empowerment is "the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights" and I absolutely agree. What is your dream or your legacy:
That I absolutely changed the world for the better, in big and small ways, every day.
Photo credits Amy Pence-Brown.
Anything Else you would like to express:
If you'd like more body positivity, sex positivity, age positivity and more on feminism and motherhood in your life and newsfeed, please follow me at the links below.
Website: www.amypencebrown.com IG: www.instagram.com/idaho_amy Events: https://www.amypencebrown.com/speakingevents Other media platforms www.facebook.com/idahostyle Twitter: www.twitter.com/idahoamy
Thank you Amy so honored for having you become for EXPOSED with us!