We need to talk about that fat-shaming cult Clarence Thomas’ wife belonged to in the ’80s
damning exposé published by The New Yorker this week that claimed, among other things, that she once belonged to a cult. Naturally, this got our attention and we wanted to learn more.
So, we did some digging…Lifespring was founded in 1974 and billed itself as a “self-awareness program” that taught members how to be more accountable in their personal and professional lives.
In reality, organizers merely took people’s money, forced them to participate in weird “training sessions”, and then wouldn’t let them leave when they wanted to.Related: Clarence Thomas’ wife’s craptastic week just got even worseThomas, who believes “transsexual fascists” are ruining America, had recently flunked the bar exam and was working as congressional aide when she connected with Lifespring in the early 1980s.
She was with the group for several years before realizing something was amiss.In 1987, she told The Washington Post that the training sessions left her feeling “confused and troubled”, particularly when she and the other trainees were instructed to get completely naked, form a U-shape, and “[make] fun of fat people’s bodies and [ridicule] one another with sexual questions”.Nevertheless, she stuck around.
