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North Texas Mom Advocates For Body Image Acceptance

After being told to 'rethink' wearing shorts, this mom won't back down

June 24 wasn't just another hot, summer day for one North Texas mom. It was the day that  Brynne Huffman, 39, of Frisco, became a torch bearer for body image acceptance.
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When Huffman was waiting in line at a Frisco UPS store last week, she was engaged in small talk with the women around her. The woman behind Huffman, also in her 30s, complimented Huffman's hair, then proceeded to say, "You should probably rethink the shorts." Ironically, this same person was wearing a "Coexist" T-shirt with peace and religious symbols on its front, according to Huffman.

"I thought to myself silently, 'Did she really just say what I think she said? Did I misunderstand her?'" Huffman told TODAY. The clothing in question was a pair of mid-thigh denims shorts Huffman said "she hesitated to buy in the first place."

Huffman shared in a post on Facebook, her legs, "while tan from swimming and muscular from dancing, are (1) not where I would like them to be and (2) are not up [to] traditional beauty standards (read: Photoshopped) because cellulite." [[385090361,C]]

After that exchange, Huffman could hardly believe her ears she told TODAY. Instead of lashing out verbally or otherwise, she calmly completed her transaction, even though she really just wanted to cry. "All I wanted to do was go home and change my clothes. And THAT made me angry," she wrote.

The comment apparently made a lot of other people angry, too, because Huffman's post has been shared more than 160,000 times on the Facebook page "Love What Matters," and gained more than 400,000 views.

Since then, Huffman has been on a mission to change the way people view and accept their body image, and she knows it starts with herself.

Huffman felt it was time to do share that sentiment with others, so she started a new Facebook page as of Thursday called "The Body You Have," which is also her Twitter handle. It's a closed group, but the description asks members to "Celebrate each other. Every day."

"I want to have an ongoing commentary in a safe place about what's going on in my life, along with suggestions from other people about how to love yourself, shop for clothes you love and feel as beautiful as you are," Huffman said.

In the short time since the page was launched, Huffman has already heard from a women who said she hasn't bought a pair of shorts in 20 years — that is, until now.

NBC TODAY's Stephanie Stephens contributed to this report.

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