Why Instagram Removed A Photo Of A Male Nipple

If you've spent a lot of time on Instagram, chances are you've heard of the social media platform's highly-debated nipple-censoring policies. And if you've got a bone to pick with Instagram over the double standard that censors women's nipples (and not men's), you'll want to follow this new account. Genderless Nipples is fighting back against Instagram's nipple ban by asking one simple question: Can you tell whether these nipples belong to men or women?

"Men are allowed to show their nipples, women's get banned," the account's biography description notes. "Support ALL genders! Let's change this policy." The account, made up of photos submitted anonymously by other users, is protesting Instagram's nipple ban by pointing out that nipples are sexualized when it comes to women, but are treated as a simple part of anatomy for men.

Instagram did remove one of the account's photos, but ironically, the photo was submitted by someone who identifies as male. "You can't even tell the difference between male and female nipples; who could!?" the creators wrote. "So why even bother banning female nipples if they can be so similar?"

Creator Evelyne Wyss told The Daily Dot that she and her partners, Marco Russo and Morgan-Lee Wagner, started the account after the 2016 presidential election. “During that period, so many horrible things were said by candidates and their supporters about women's rights and gender equality that we decided even though we’re not from the U.S., we feel responsible to do something about it," she said. "And what better way to start spreading a message of gender equality than pointing out the rules of social networks?”

Genderless Nipples makes a great point about the sexist double standard that applies to Instagram's policies. After all, why are nipples suddenly NSFW when they belong to women? And not to mention, these heteronormative rules don't seem to take into consideration that some users may identify as trans or gender non-conforming. All in all, Genderless Nipples just wants to make sure that Instagram's rules apply to everyone equally — instead of singling out anyone based on their gender.