Madonna takes on Instagram to ‘free the nipple’

Madonna has hit out at Instagram over its decision to delete the pop star’s raunchy photoshoot on Wednesday, arguing that the nipple should not be the only part of a woman’s body that can be sexualized.

On Thursday, Madonna re-uploaded a number of photos from a revealing photoshoot. However, this time the pop star’s upload featured emoji hearts over her nipples and a strongly worded statement on the sexualization of the body part. 

Madonna had originally uploaded the photos, without the heart emojis, to her Instagram account on Wednesday but found the pictures were swiftly taken down by the social media giant.

On Thursday, the pop star hit out at Instagram for their policy, noting that her management team, which does not handle her account, had been told that the visibility of her nipples had been the reason for the deletion of the photos. She says the uploaded pics were deleted without prior warning or notification. 

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In her post, Madonna also took aim at society’s stance on female nudity and the social media giant’s adherence to it. “It is still astounding to me that we live in a culture that allows every inch of a woman’s body to be shown except a nipple. As if that is the only part of a woman’s anatomy that could be sexualized. The nipple that nourishes the baby!” she wrote.

The singer also claimed she was thankful for being able to maintain her sanity despite decades of censorship, sexism, ageism, and misogyny.

In a final comment, Madonna hit out at America’s Thanksgiving traditions, describing them as “lies” and questioning whether the pilgrim fathers had peacefully broken bread with the Native American Indians when they landed on Plymouth Rock.

Madonna is by no means the first celebrity to have drawn attention to the issue of sexualizing nipples. The “Free the Nipple” campaign was launched nearly a decade ago by filmmaker Lina Esco, who filmed herself running through the streets of New York topless. The viral slogan brought together artists, activists and advocates.

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