{"id":625,"date":"2019-06-30T19:50:19","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T19:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hashtagart.blog\/?p=625"},"modified":"2025-03-01T16:53:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T16:53:53","slug":"625","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hashtagart.blog\/?p=625","title":{"rendered":"Zuckerberg\u200b Wants Nipples (or, at least, he wants\u200b to talk about them)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A story on how one misattributed digital nipple made 125 people undress at Facebook headquarters. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>In Facebook, they like censorship. Zuckerberg likes it too, as you could read in<\/span>\u00a0my previous post<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>on art censorship, so artists on Facebook and Instagram have been annoyed for a while. However, stories like Facebook censoring Rubens\u2019 paintings or world-famous sculptures make more headlines than the struggle that photographers have to face. Especially photographers whose work contains the evil<\/em> female nipple.<\/span><\/p>\n


Social Media Facebook Gif<\/a><\/span> by Okkult Notion Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The problem starts with<\/span> Facebook guidelines<\/a><\/span> regarding nudity. Facebook says<\/span><\/p>\n

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We restrict some images of female breasts that include the nipple<\/strong>, we allow other images, including those depicting acts of protest, (\u2026). <\/span><\/p>\n

We <\/strong>also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures and other art that depicts nude figures<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Instagram guidelines<\/a><\/span> sound slightly more companionable,<\/span> yet the consequences remain the same, that is, censorship.<\/span><\/p>\n

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We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons,\u00a0we don\u2019t allow nudity on Instagram<\/strong>\u00a0(\u2026). It also includes some\u00a0photos of female nipples<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

BLACK AND WHITE ICON DESIGN GIF<\/a><\/span>\u00a0by<\/em>\u00a0EMMA DARVICK<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The nipple issue on Facebook and Instagram has a long history. Already in 2014<\/strong>, after some charity event photos were taken down of her Instagram, Micol Hebron<\/a><\/span>, an artist and associate professor of art<\/strong>, realized that female nipple\u00a0is strictly prohibited on social media, while there is no ban for male one. What did she do?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Male Nipple Template: the digital pasty<\/strong>, as she called it, so that the users can cover the female nipples with the male ones<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As<\/span>\u00a0Hebron recalled in the interview<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in 2015,<\/span><\/p>\n

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I thought a lot about the absurdity of Instagram\u2019s policies regarding nipples<\/strong> (\u2026) I decided to adopt their own logic and try to use it against them to make a point about how sexist these policies are<\/strong>. That was when I created the \u201cacceptable male nipple template.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/4pUUgTJYIy\/<\/p>\n

As tracked down by<\/span>\u00a0The Daily Dot<\/a><\/span>, Hebron’s template gained popularity on Tumblr and was later used and posted many times on Facebook. It also became a symbol of #FreeTheNipple action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Hebron wrote in her<\/span>\u00a0note published on Facebook<\/a> <\/span>this month,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Free the Nipple has a different focus, and advocates for women to be able to go topless in public without retribution. For my digital nipple pasty, I am interested in pointing out the sexist hypocrisies of the social media content guidelines – which police women\u2019s bodies more than men\u2019s.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What does Hebron\u2019s nipple pasty have in common with the<\/span> nude protest in NYC this month? The nipple, of course, that was used without attribution to Hebron.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10158137017820752&set=p.10158137017820752&type=3&theater<\/p>\n

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Now, let’s have a look at some nudity and nipples in front of Facebook HQ.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook Gif<\/a><\/span> found on<\/em> GIPHY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 2, 2019. Before the sunrise, a group of over 100 people <\/strong>undresses to pose nude for Spencer Tunick<\/strong> in New York City, in front of Facebook and Instagram headquarters. Tunick, a professional photographer famous for his staged nude<\/strong> events, took part in the protest under the slogans #FreeTheNipple and #WeTheNipple organized by\u00a0The National Coalition Against Censorship<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0(NCAC). The nude protesting group, according to\u00a0artnet News<\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0mostly consisted of women with a few men. They were holding prints of male nipples<\/strong> in different colors and sizes, in order to pose with them and to use them as a cover for their genitalia. Women had the smaller prints attached to their naked breasts<\/strong>. After half an hour filled with photo-taking, the party was over.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naked She’s Out Of Her Mind Gif<\/a><\/span> by Blink-182<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

#WeTheNipple<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0an NCAC’s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>campaign, calling for openness for artistic freedom on social media<\/strong> and equality in perceiving female<\/strong> and male bodies.\u00a0<\/span>The censorship focused on the restriction of female nipples, as they say, \u201cstifles artistic expression, and enforces gender discrimination<\/strong> by permitting images of male nipples while prohibiting female nipples,\u201d argued Christopher Finan, NCAC’s executive director in<\/span> the NCAC’s official letter<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>sent to Facebook<\/strong>. Hebron’s actions since 2014 were not mentioned at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yesterday, 125 people posed nude in front of @facebook<\/a> and @instagram<\/a>'s New York City headquarters at Astor Place to challenge social media censorship. Read on: https:\/\/t.co\/el6rrX3EKr<\/a>@SpencerTunick<\/a> #WeTheNipple<\/a><\/p>\n

— National Coalition Against Censorship (@ncacensorship) June 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n