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Instagram's criteria for which hashtags it bans will never not leave us scratching our heads. Why was #bush ever banned in the first place? We can see where Insta was going with this one, but a quick search will show that most photos with this tag are of literal plant life. Luckily, Instagram has learned to listen. Following the outcry against the banning of such hashtags as #goddess and #curvy, the social media giant has unbanned these terms and made them searchable once more.
Of course, we know by now that these tags were banned due to the "irrelevant pornography" that made its way in among more relevant and body-positive content. While we understand that not everyone enjoys seeing excessive nudity as they scroll through their feed, irrelevant pornography is a sort of necessary element of the Internet. And given how many more posts with these hashtags feature women showing love for themselves and other women or just having fun (#vagina sculptures, anyone?), we're really okay with seeing the occasional butt.
So we've put together some of our favorite posts from Instagram bearing these once-banned hashtags. What we love about them — shamelessly self-promotional or not, flat-out porn or not — is that photos carrying these tags (among others) increase the visibility of women and their bodies online, the way they want to show them off.
Much has been said about Instagram profiles being incredibly curated, selective versions of the user's true self. If female users wish to portray themselves as #curvy or #goddesses, they should have that option. If they wish to model their #bras (perhaps of their own design) or announce their decision to be #braless, they should have that option, as well.
Click through to see how women are celebrating these once-again-searchable hashtags, from the SFW (Cats! Mirror selfies!) to the slightly NSFW. Hashtags, we're so glad you're back.
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