OK, so what is wrong with this photo. In my opinion, I do not find it degrading. It is life. Many women have accidents like this every month. Get over it. It’s a normal bodily function. Does it offend you? Are you shocked this woman decides to show she is menstruating? Are you more comfortable seeing scantily clad women leaving nothing to the imagination instead?. Please comment below with your thoughts.
Check out this controversial article from mindbodygreen below.
You can get away with a lot of things on Instagram. You can post a photo of your butt in a thong bikini or your breasts (as long as your nipples are covered). But apparently, the one thing you can’t do is show natural female bodily functions.
22-year-old college senior and spoken word poet Rupi Kaur uploaded a picture (below) of herself on Instagram this week which includes a spot of blood between her legs, as well as blood on her bedsheets — clearly, a period leak.
But Instagram removed the photo within 24 hours, citing violation of the “Community Guidelines.”
It seems that these guidelines only allow for the “sexy” parts of the female body. Menstruation? Ew, no way. Seems a little misogynistic, doesn’t it?
So Kaur posted the photo again — and once more, it was removed.
Kaur’s photo is part of a series she shot with her sister for a visual rhetoric class. This is an excerpt from a poem that accompanies the series:
communities shun this natural process. some are more comfortable with the pornification of women. the sexualization of women. the violence and degradation of women than this. they cannot be bothered to express their disgust about all that. but will be angered and bothered by this. we menstruate and they see it as dirty.
In its terms of service, Instagram does spell out what kind of content is restricted on the platform: images that are “violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive.” But I’m sure we can all agree we’ve seen plenty of partial nudes and violent images. Plus, there’s no mention of menstrual blood.
