When our nudity is offensive

The reason behind Instagram's change of policy towards nudity

@curvynyome

As an excuse to protect us, platforms like Instagram started a hunt to the feminine body and told us to hide something which we must never be ashamed of.

After being a victim of the Instagram censorship policy for posting a picture where she embraced her breasts, Nyome Nicholas-Williams, a British plus-size model, decided to be a promoter of change. With the help of two other women, Alexandra Cameron and Gina Martin, Nyome developed a movement (#iwanttoseenyome) and launched a petition which was signed by almost 17 thousand people. This movement generated a massive reaction all over social media and was amplified by several graffitis around London.

The platform could not ignore the fuss. It changed its policy to improve the distinction between personal expression and pornographic content and now these three women all scream on their platforms “We did it!”, despite the long journey we still have in front of us. Of course, an algorithm that has been favouring white and skinny models for years can not drastically change just because of a new nudity policy however, we can’t avoid but to make a standing ovation to Nyome’s work.

If society is so afraid of bodies, particularly when these belong to women who don’t fit into the “beauty standard” (can we talk about such thing?), and Instagram feeds on the concept of perception, how can we change social media before we change ourselves?