The Visual Impossibility of the Nipple (in the Mind of Instagram)
Gabrielle d'Estrées et Une de Ses Sœurs
Chances are that you've seen or heard the phrase #freethenipple or #wethenipple when discussing Instagram and Facebook's notorious guidelines regarding 'nudity' on their platform. But what is it all for, really? Some may argue that these are silly endeavors, especially within the context of the newly documented racial murders at the hands of authorities and COVID-19. And yes, those are larger and more pressing matters. However, those events did not occur in a vacuum; things led up to them. Both have historically been the result of ignorance, stereotyping, and an ingrained superiority complex and both got out of control and led to mass death just because those in higher power deemed them inconsequential . These events did not occur in a vacuum. Individuals were censored. Words became loaded. People began to believe hegemonic language and practices as natural, God-given truths. But all this has proven is that every inequity is consequential. These events do not occur in a vacuum.
We are introduced to Freckle—a fabulous, albeit perpetually drunk, genderfluid actor—when she calls the title character in The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo with important news: a mutual friend is “going bi” and she wants Caleb to set them up on a date. When he arrives at her apartment to help her get ready, she asks “Should I wear one of my furs?” And as she slips on one of her pelts, she exposes a nipple from beneath her silk robe.
She laughs seductively and announces in a self-parodying velvet baritone, “Nip slip.”
“...Is it?” Caleb counters.
“I don’t know... Is it?”
Well, is it? This had been a running gag in the 2016 web series and related sketches. Freckle’s character was created and is played by Jason Greene, a performance artist who doesn’t identify with any particular label in real life and typically dons a highlighted blow-out paired with a light mustache. One day Greene posted a sensual picture of themself (Fig. 1) on Facebook only to have it flagged for “violating Facebook’s community standards.”[1] The reason? Greene’s partially exposed nipple. At the time, Greene had opted to identify as male on their profile and eventually the picture was deemed appropriate. That was back in 2015 and not much has changed.
Jason Greene and their Illicit Nipple. Photo by Antonio Marziale
Facebook and Instagram’s (which was bought by Facebook in 2012) community guidelines have evolved to “allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures”[2] but has continued to censor “photos of female nipples, [with the exception of photos depicting] post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding...”[3] While the male nipple has always been allowed on the site, the company acknowledges that these policies require more nuance when addressing trans or non-binary nipples because most nipples tend to look like…nipples. As a result, there have multiple campaigns and demonstrations throughout the years calling for the freedom of the human pepperoni. It’s important to note, however, that no one is forcing these artists to use the services and platforms that this privately-owned company offers. And realistically, Instagram and Facebook have the right to do whatever they please, such as implement archaic guidelines in the vain of appeasing conservative stakeholders and digital distribution platforms such as Apple’s App Store[4].
But one must also acknowledge that Instagram has become a staple asset for creative professions. Its prolific use has served as a launching platform for many artists. Established museums and artists use it to publicize new and old works. Creatives use it to be active and connected in the global art community. This has resulted in a significant impact on the way artists develop their work and network their skills. In essence, Instagram has become the “online voice [of] the art world”[5]. So, what is one to do? My argument is simple: Instagram’s female nipple censorship is illogical, inconsistent, and damaging to contemporary society and the arts; the consequences of their actions go beyond the virtual realm into the physical one and affect it in very real ways. Because of this and as a global social media giant, Instagram has the social responsibility of reducing the negative effects that are fostered by its existence (i.e. revenge porn and body shaming) by effectively dealing with the root of the problem (the pornification of the non-male nipple) rather than hide behind the ramifications of the issues at hand (such as mammilla-phobia).
In October of 2019, Instagram/Facebook hosted a roundtable discussion with about twenty artists and museum officials (many of whom had been previously censored by the social media corporation by having specific works deleted or their accounts taken down and who were predominantly women) as well as members of the National Coalition Against Censorship. Participants were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, but Facebook stated that this was typical protocol and that the main prerogative was to discuss the art community’s concerns with the platform’s nudity policies. This extended to include their obvious inability to determine someone’s gender identification based solely on photographs of one’s nipples.[6]
Director of Communications of the NCAC, Nora Pelizzari, stated that these unnecessarily gendered policies disproportionately effect trans, gender non-conforming, and queer individuals. Which, as aforementioned, seeps from the online world onto the physical world to consequently “reinforce[s] global norms around marginalization.”[7] And this marginalization is rather odd, seeing as how both ‘male’ and ‘female’ nipples are anatomically identical; both “have the necessary anatomic equipment, physiological potential, and hormone receptors” necessary to lactate.[8] In fact, cis-gender men under conditions of starvation have been documented to develop breasts and, though less commonly, spontaneously produce breast milk.[9] Just a year prior, non-binary actor and model Rain Dove had tested Facebook’s leniency by posing shirtless (Fig. 2) for a digital edition of Salty and posting it on their Facebook and Instagram.[10]
The image was repeatedly flagged and taken down after Rain Dove would republish them. In the picture’s caption, they wrote:
I am NOT “Female”. Therefore this nipple DOESNT [sic] violate [Instagram’s] guidelines and should not be removed. BUT it was [removed] after 10 days up [and with] 51k likes and 2k comments. Oddly enough in that time period no one turned into a puddle of goo or had their eyes burned out by viewing this nipple. No one even complained that they were destroyed by seeing it. One person did say this image was “cancer” but hey they’ve said that about my fully clothed images too. Sure some people disagreed with me posting this but I know lots of people who are triggered by pro-MAGA posts, images of feet, … [etc.]. They have nightmares! It’s sad because even if I was “Female”- “Females” can have Pecs. “Males” can have Breasts. And if You argue only people with pecs are considered “Male” bodied- Pecs can be bigger than Breasts and vice versa. Both can also lactate. Both can also be fetishized. What’s so different? … Aren’t you a globally reaching company? Who’s [sic] opinion is controlling what is considered sexual? Can we chat?[11]
Rose Dove also threatened to take legal action if Instagram continued to remove their posts. Eventually, their bare-chested images were (like Greene’s) deemed appropriate and allowed to stay. Karina Newton, Instagram’s Head of Policy, told the New York Times that there are certain “criteria” to help human and technological reviewers identify a nipple’s gender and look for context such as pronoun specification.[12] Nonetheless, Newton admits that “There are times [when Instagram] can’t tell—and mistakes may be made.” But if there are times when the company can’t tell...then why do they aggressively censor any variety of nipple to begin with?
To say that Facebook does this with a malicious, philistine attitude or deliberately sexist intent is a dangerous over-simplification of the topic rooted in ever evolving (and therefore inconsistent and unreliable) morals. After all, Facebook is a company and a company’s primary objective is to turn a profit in whichever seemingly legal way they can, morality be damned. Rather, they are simultaneous perpetrators and victims of a long history of the sexualization of the female body and rape culture. Yes, they uphold inarguably sexist policies, but this is due to roundabout arguments over the ‘consequences’ of the female body. (However, this is not to say that they are free of fault; they do yield the power to establish cultural shifts, but that simply wouldn’t guarantee them money and is therefore not a prerogative.).
In November of 2019, original Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom stated, “[Apple Inc. is] very clear. If you have nudity in your app, you’re not allowed in the App Store. But I think [Instagram] would have decided to have similar standards, even if it wasn’t in the App Store.”[13] Systrom’s reasoning was that this way it “cuts out [the] whole porn sector” and allows the parents of 12+ year olds (the minimum age requirement as per its rating) to feel “comfortable” with their kids using the application.
These statements reveal what is actually problematic. Firstly, Apple does allow nudity; it just requires a 17+ age rating, something that the company (likely due to conservatively predicted financial reasons) is not willing to change. And the policies determining the age rating itself (at least whomever interprets and then assigns them) are inherently prejudice. For example, Instagram is permitted to display: Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity, Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor, and Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes.[14] There is no mention of what considered infrequent/mild sexual content, nudity, or suggestive themes. This suggests that it is up to the discretion of the application to decide what constitutes what.
The female nipple, evidently, went beyond these definitions. This is the result and the symptom “of an unjust and unequal system,” such as slut-shaming, pornification of the female body, and revenge porn.[15] And instead of examining how young women experience unwanted sexual attention because of decidedly sexist and double-standard-driven discourses, Instagram and Facebook focus on how to restrict, monitor, or otherwise censor young women—and the artists who depict them—on these digital platforms.[16]
Perhaps it wouldn’t be as damaging to the arts and society at large if Facebook and Instagram were as consistent with their censorship and adherence to their guidelines as they are (supposedly) dogmatic about their policies. As aforementioned, artists have had their works and accounts taken down due to what Instagram claimed to be a violation of their community guidelines. However, a significant proportion of the art community has had their work removed even when it failed to breach any of their stated regulations. Petra Collins had a photograph of herself in a bikini bottom (Fig.3) with a bit of pubic hair peeking over the top removed in 2013.[17] In 2015, Rupi Kaur developed a photo-series titled period. with the goal of normalizing images of menstruation. She posted a self-portrait (Fig.4) from the series in which she wore period-stained clothing with the almost circular stain echoing the mark left on her bed sheets only to have it taken down by twice Instagram moderators.[18] The list goes on and on.
The inconsistent, seemingly random, and ultimately inexcusable acts of censorship on behalf of Instagram were so prevalent that in 2017 Molly Soda and Arvida Byström published a photography book, Pics or It Didn’t Happen: Images Banned From Instagram, by asking the Instagram community for works that have been censored on the platform. The artists chose to feature about 250 works from the roughly 1,000 images they received.[19]
Pics or It Didn't Happen by Molly Soda and Arvida Byström
Left to right: @lilit__u, @arvidabystrom
As early as 2012, sociologist and feminist cultural theorist Rosalind Gill asked, “When did engaging with sexist media seem to call out for an ever more sophisticated and literate media user, rather than a campaign to stamp out sexism?”[20] How are we, as avid and ferocious social media consumers, supposed to think critically about the images we encounter and have engaged conversations within our community on what one believes to be ‘art’ as opposed to a ‘lewd’ or pornographic image if an overarching power is deciding for us? How are we to demystify, desexualize, depornify the clearly repugnant female body and those God-awful nipples if we are not able to view them in the context of art?
As of May 2020, Instagram and Facebook have continued to take down various works depicting the female body. And, if COVID-19 has taught Americans anything, it’s that the country (if not the world at large) has come to largely depend on social media outlets for their news, communication, and social cues. The line between our online lives and our physical lives is blurring. Because of this, it is vital for us to shift the powers, dichotomies, and layered languages at play. We should not be told to find another platform if Facebook and Instagram’s ‘rules’ do not appeal to us for they are colossal cultural giants capable of transforming the world. Only by challenging those in power, can we begin to change the language surrounding the non-male body and take control of our meticulously documented and photographed culture.
Sources:
[1] Zak Cheney-Rice, “One Photo Highlights the Absurdity of Nipple Bans on Facebook,” Mic (Mic, June 24, 2015), https://www.mic.com/articles/121223/one-photo-highlights-the-absurdity-of-nipple-bans-on-facebook)
[2] “Community Standards,” Facebook, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/objectionable_content)
[3] “Instagram Help Center,” Community Guidelines | Instagram Help Center, 2020, https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119)
[4] Stella Bugbee, “Instagram's Co-Founder on Creating the World's Filter,” The Cut, November 27, 2019, https://www.thecut.com/2019/11/instagram-kevin-systrom.html)
[5] Maximilíano Duron, “Instagram Holds Closed-Door Roundtable with Artists on Art and Nudity,” ARTnews.com (ARTnews.com, November 18, 2019), https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/instagram-censorship-roundtable-13431/)
[6] Duron, “Instagram Holds Closed-Door Roundtable with Artists”
[7] Duron, “Instagram Holds Closed-Door Roundtable with Artists”
[8] Diamond, Jared. “Father’s Milk.” Discover 16 (February 1995): 82–87. https://search-ebscohost-com.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rgm&AN=503261808&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
[9] Kunz, Thomas H, and David J Hosken. "Male Lactation: Why, Why Not and Is It Care?" Trends in Ecology & Evolution 24, no. 2 (2009): 81-82.
[10] Claire Fitzsimmons, “The Patriarchy is in the Algorithms,” Salty, December 7, 2019, https://saltyworld.net/the-patriarchy-is-in-the-algorithm/)
[11] Rain Dove, “Rain Dove on Instagram: ‘I Am NOT ‘Female,’” Instagram, June 27, 2018, https://www.instagram.com/p/BkibsngHp73/?taken-by=raindovemodel)
[12] Julia Jacobs, “Will Instagram Ever 'Free the Nipple'?,” The New York Times (The New York Times, November 22, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/arts/design/instagram-free-the-nipple.html)
[13] Stella Bugbee, “Instagram's Co-Founder on Creating the World's Filter,” The Cut, November 27, 2019, https://www.thecut.com/2019/11/instagram-kevin-systrom.html)
[14] Instagram, Inc, “Instagram,” App Store, October 5, 2010, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/instagram/id389801252)
[15] Annadís G Rúdólfsdóttir and Ásta Jóhannsdóttir, “Fuck Patriarchy! An Analysis of Digital Mainstream Media Discussion of the #Freethenipple Activities in Iceland in March 2015,” Feminism & Psychology 28, no. 1 (2018): pp. 133-151, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353517715876, p.142)
[16] Amy Shields Dobson, “Performative Shamelessness on Young Women’s Social Network Sites: Shielding the Self and Resisting Gender Melancholia,” Feminism & Psychology 24, no. 1 (2013): pp. 97-114, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353513510651, p.101)
[17] Elizabeth Plank, “This Photo Was Banned By Instagram - Thanks to Society's Sexist Double Standards,” Mic (Mic, January 20, 2015), https://www.mic.com/articles/108624/this-banned-instagram-photo-exposes-the-latest-double-standard-in-censorship)
[18] Zing Tsjeng, “Why Instagram Censored This Image of an Artist on Her Period,” Dazed, March 27, 2015, https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/24258/1/why-instagram-censored-this-image-of-an-artist-on-her-period)
[1]9Molly Gottschalk, “The Photographs of Women's Bodies That Instagram Censored,” Artsy, March 13, 2017, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-photographs-womens-bodies-instagram-censored)
[20] Amy Shields Dobson, “Performative Shamelessness on Young Women’s Social Network Sites: Shielding the Self and Resisting Gender Melancholia,” Feminism & Psychology 24, no. 1 (2013): pp. 97-114, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353513510651, p.101)
