Throughout Instagram's tenure, it's been flagging photos of nipples, claiming these pictures depict female nudity. The brand-new @Genderless_Nipples Instagram account is here to mess with that, as part of the #FreeTheNipple campaign.
Genderless Nipples posts up-close pictures of people's nipples, making it unclear if they belong to men and women. This clever strategy completely bamboozles Instagram's algorithm for n00dz detection so sometimes when it deletes pictures off Genderless Nippples' account it ends up deleting pictures of a dude's nipples.
This happened within a few days of the account going live--Instagram in all its wisdom deleted a picture of nipples thinking they were lady parts when in fact they belonged to a guy. The account holders responded by posting the notification they received and a caption pointing out the clear double standard that exists: "Instagram, you can't even tell the difference between male and female nipples; who could!? So why even bother banning female nipples if they can be so similar?"
Instagram's current policy about nudity is clear for the most part: no butts, no genitalia. When it comes to nipples, though, the policy changes based on gender--if a woman's nipples are exposed, it's nudity. Male nipples are always permissible.
As Genderless Nipples' bio says, "Men are allowed to show their nipples, women's get banned."
People have been fighting long and hard against Instagram's sexist double standard, even going so far as to photoshop male nipples on top of female ones.
Going through Genderless Nipples' pictures, it's clear that nipples pretty much all look alike. It's time Instagram gets over its prudeness and chooses finally to #FreeTheNipple.
Volunteers can send in their nipples to Genderless Nipples to keep the party/protest going.
Header photo via Genderless Nipples