Facebook has time and again censored women’s bodies under the guise of nudity. I have been banned from Facebook about 5 times for posting non-sexual images of women’s breasts and nipples. In September 2016, Facebook was in news for censoring an iconic Vietnam war photo in October, they took down a Swedish awareness video for breast cancer for ‘nudity’.
The Communications Director Lena Biornstad of Cancerfonden from Sweden said, “We find it incomprehensible and strange how one can perceive medical information as offensive. This is information that saves lives, which is important for us.”
Argentina based charity MACMA came up with a creative idea to avoid Facebook censorship. They created a video in Spanish and English on how women can check their breasts for signs of cancer using a male model.
“The breasts of women, [particularly] nipples, are censored in some social networks, even if what they are doing is to show a breast self-examination to reduce the risk of breast cancer,” said Monica Asturizaga from MACMA.
They wanted to raise awareness on the importance of early detection. They decided to use social media because they to tap in to its wide and diverse audience. To avoid the video being taken down, they decided to use male boobs instead.
The video begins with a woman removing her shirt only to find her nipples censored by Facebook and Instagram. Then a man named Henry with male boobs stands in front of her and she uses her hands to demonstrate how to check your (m)boobs for signs of cancer.
For me, this brilliant video does three things at one.
- It shows you how to check your breasts for signs of cancer.
- It gives a tight response to Facebook’s ridiculous ‘nudity’ rules around female bodies.
- It shows how can men use their male privilege to amplify women’s causes.
Enjoy this super informative yet hilarious video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7spEqwENR8
