The Free the Nipple campaign, according to their website, is “a film, an equality movement, and a mission to empower women across the world.” Their means of doing so? By protesting so-called “decency” laws that continue to oppress and outlaw topless women, even those who are breastfeeding, in 35 U.S. states.
These sorts of laws are not applicable to male nipples. Nor are those policies from social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, which are both notorious for taking down photos (as discussed in one of our previous Feminism and Women’s Bodies posts) and deleting entire accounts when users post “racy” photos of the female anatomy. Instagram calls this “mature content,” but, naturally, avoids mentioning mature content does not include male nipples.
According to the movement’s founder and film’s director, Lina Esco, Free the Nipple attempts to answer the question “Why is a woman’s nipple so controversial?”
Please read the following two articles for some opinions on this campaign/social movement…
Free the nipple campaign is not empowering to women
Why Free the Nipple Isn’t About Fixing Tan Lines
The first article, by Tory Shepherd of the Australian Herald Sun, speaks against the Free the Nipple campaign, stating that, among other flaws, “it’s just not clear…how empowering it is for women to get their tits out, when in fact that’s what pervy blokes have been asking us to do for years.” Shepherd contests that there are other, better causes women ought to be involved in.
Do her points have some validity? Is she correct in saying that this movement gives into the desires of “pervy blokes” or, further, supports the patriarchy?
Ms. magazine’s James Hildebrand, in the second piece, is very pro-nipple, so to speak, and points out that other content that would seemingly fall under the realm of “mature” is acceptable on social media, like “public beheadings.” His argument is that movements like Free the Nipple and others rightly seek to end “a culture of sexual assault victim-blaming.”
How might Free the Nipple contribute to the end of rape culture?
Do you think female breasts are inherently sexual body parts? Why/why not? Are women’s bodies in their entirety inherently sexual? What about man boobs?! Do lines need to be drawn in terms of how people should appear in public, and should they apply to one gender and not the other(s)? Is this body shaming?
Don’t feel obligated to answer all of the above questions; I hope they do all get you thinking, though! (Seriously, what about man boobs?!)
Finally, do you think this is an issue of importance? Are there more consequential women’s issues to which Free the Nipple supporters and their resources should be devoted?
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If you’re still interested in this issue, take to Google and/or read this article (or the others I linked in the post) about censorship and androgynous individuals!
Feminism and Women's Bodies 