Sylph Sia vs Instagram
Late in January 2018, Instagram deactivated the account of Fine Art model and photographer Sylph Sia. Sylph had maintained an account on Instagram for years, and at the time that her account was removed, she had made over 900 posts and had 152,000 followers (including me.)
There had been no warning, nor did she receive an explanation from the site. But, most likely, this had to do with her profession - as a fine art model, in most photos she posted, she is nude.
She’s not a stripper or a porn star. She doesn’t perform sex acts for the camera. Fine Art nude photography is about the interplay of light and shadow on the female form. The women pose like dancers or statues against odd, intriguing backgrounds. (Sylph has a background in dance.) This is a school of art as old as photography itself, kin to the artists who have portrayed the human form in sculptures and paintings for centuries.
This is not “revenge porn.” She is posting pictures of herself, and she always credits the photographer in her posts. Likewise, when the photographer posts pictures, they always tag the model. No picture is posted without the consent of both parties.
Before Slyph Sia posts pictures of herself on Instagram, she has to censor them. Nipples and pubic hair must be blurred out. Some models and photographers actually scribble digitally over the “offending” parts of the photograph, which seems to me both an act of vandalism against the photo and an act of violence against the model. A better solution, which Slyph has employed on occasion, is to cover the “naughty bits” with starbursts, as if to say, “Don’t look! You’ll hurt your eyes!”
There is no written rulebook for what Instagram will and will not allow. Through trial and error, users have figured out what will pass and what will get removed (or, get one’s account deactivated). Men are allowed to have nipples, while women are not. Genitals of either type are not allowed. Bare butts are okay for both - just be sure nothing peeks out!
The rules aren’t fixed however, and this is where confusion sets in. Facebook, who owns Instagram, stirred up a public relations firestorm a few years ago when they banned pictures of women nursing their children. So, bare breasts, including nipples, are often allowed on Instagram in this context.
For most photos, though, nipples must be covered, even if that covering is sheer. If a woman is wearing a thin white shirt or a lace bra, the photo might be allowed to stand, despite the color and shape of the nipple being clearly visible beneath the fabric.
Instagram responds to viewers protesting offensive content on its site. There are people who follow Fine Art models and photographers for the purpose of protesting their posts. It must give these folks a perverse pleasure when a post they protested is taken down. My hunch is Sylph Sia’s account was shut down after receiving too many of these complaints.
Though she chafes under these arbitrary and Puritanical rules, she found an upside to them. She was an early adopter of Patreon. Subscribe to her Patreon, and you get access to uncensored photographs. (By the way, I am not a patron.)
Still, most people discover her, like I did, through Instagram. Though she was able to create a new account, the shutdown cost her 150,000 followers. Nor is she the only one affected. Recently, another Fine Art model, Nakita Fox, also had her main account deleted.
Instagram, to my knowledge, has never articulated a rationale for this censoring. Most likely, they would say they are trying to avoid offensive content. Though we tend to think of the internet as one big public forum, sites like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are all privately owned and managed spaces. (This site, too, is a private space.) The site owner has great latitude in determining what should stand and what must go.
I believe that Internet forums need rules (especially rules of decorum!) In the case of Sylph Sia, however, I believe Instagram is drawing the line in the wrong place.
The first problem is Cultural Imperialism, a charge regularly laid upon people and companies from the United States. We don’t like people telling us what to do, but we love bossing other people around. Sylph Sia is from Australia. Fine Art models hail from all parts of the world. Should our Puritanical traditions be imposed on people from other countries, through sites like Instagram?
The starbursts are cute, but how different are they from a burqa? The burqa is more extreme, but the starburst is imposed in the same way, in the same voice. We are ordering a woman to cover herself.
Another model, Sasskia, recently posted a nude picture of herself on Instagram, under the caption “Not Consent.” She is disputing the idea that her baring her body is an invitation for sex. Her goal is liberation and empowerment. Her statement reminds me of the woman who, at that recent protest in Iran, climbed a pole and removed her hijab.
One might say, “We have to censor these pictures. Otherwise, children might see them!” Let me turn that around and ask: What message are we sending to children now, particularly to girls?
The message, expressed baldly, is this: there are parts of you that are evil. You must cover them up, or bad things will happen to you and to other girls. You will cause men to do bad things, and it will be your fault, because you weren’t modest.
If a man behaves badly, there are laws we can enforce to stop the behavior and punish it. We can publicly shame and estrange certain people, as we did with Harvey Weinstein. Let’s enforce our laws. Let’s not blame the victim.
More than that, let’s teach boys a more respectful way to treat women and girls. Let’s create a world where our daughters, and our sons too, can live and walk and play without fear of violence, a world that is empowering and liberating for everyone.
It’s too big a job to make in a single step, but let’s take a step. Let’s see ourselves as beautiful creatures in our own perfect skin. Let’s move that line and set it down in a different spot. We can block images that are degrading, violent, or intended to humiliate. These beautiful Fine Art photos should stand uncensored.
There had been no warning, nor did she receive an explanation from the site. But, most likely, this had to do with her profession - as a fine art model, in most photos she posted, she is nude.
She’s not a stripper or a porn star. She doesn’t perform sex acts for the camera. Fine Art nude photography is about the interplay of light and shadow on the female form. The women pose like dancers or statues against odd, intriguing backgrounds. (Sylph has a background in dance.) This is a school of art as old as photography itself, kin to the artists who have portrayed the human form in sculptures and paintings for centuries.
This is not “revenge porn.” She is posting pictures of herself, and she always credits the photographer in her posts. Likewise, when the photographer posts pictures, they always tag the model. No picture is posted without the consent of both parties.
Before Slyph Sia posts pictures of herself on Instagram, she has to censor them. Nipples and pubic hair must be blurred out. Some models and photographers actually scribble digitally over the “offending” parts of the photograph, which seems to me both an act of vandalism against the photo and an act of violence against the model. A better solution, which Slyph has employed on occasion, is to cover the “naughty bits” with starbursts, as if to say, “Don’t look! You’ll hurt your eyes!”
There is no written rulebook for what Instagram will and will not allow. Through trial and error, users have figured out what will pass and what will get removed (or, get one’s account deactivated). Men are allowed to have nipples, while women are not. Genitals of either type are not allowed. Bare butts are okay for both - just be sure nothing peeks out!
The rules aren’t fixed however, and this is where confusion sets in. Facebook, who owns Instagram, stirred up a public relations firestorm a few years ago when they banned pictures of women nursing their children. So, bare breasts, including nipples, are often allowed on Instagram in this context.
For most photos, though, nipples must be covered, even if that covering is sheer. If a woman is wearing a thin white shirt or a lace bra, the photo might be allowed to stand, despite the color and shape of the nipple being clearly visible beneath the fabric.
Instagram responds to viewers protesting offensive content on its site. There are people who follow Fine Art models and photographers for the purpose of protesting their posts. It must give these folks a perverse pleasure when a post they protested is taken down. My hunch is Sylph Sia’s account was shut down after receiving too many of these complaints.
Though she chafes under these arbitrary and Puritanical rules, she found an upside to them. She was an early adopter of Patreon. Subscribe to her Patreon, and you get access to uncensored photographs. (By the way, I am not a patron.)
Still, most people discover her, like I did, through Instagram. Though she was able to create a new account, the shutdown cost her 150,000 followers. Nor is she the only one affected. Recently, another Fine Art model, Nakita Fox, also had her main account deleted.
Instagram, to my knowledge, has never articulated a rationale for this censoring. Most likely, they would say they are trying to avoid offensive content. Though we tend to think of the internet as one big public forum, sites like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are all privately owned and managed spaces. (This site, too, is a private space.) The site owner has great latitude in determining what should stand and what must go.
I believe that Internet forums need rules (especially rules of decorum!) In the case of Sylph Sia, however, I believe Instagram is drawing the line in the wrong place.
The first problem is Cultural Imperialism, a charge regularly laid upon people and companies from the United States. We don’t like people telling us what to do, but we love bossing other people around. Sylph Sia is from Australia. Fine Art models hail from all parts of the world. Should our Puritanical traditions be imposed on people from other countries, through sites like Instagram?
The starbursts are cute, but how different are they from a burqa? The burqa is more extreme, but the starburst is imposed in the same way, in the same voice. We are ordering a woman to cover herself.
Another model, Sasskia, recently posted a nude picture of herself on Instagram, under the caption “Not Consent.” She is disputing the idea that her baring her body is an invitation for sex. Her goal is liberation and empowerment. Her statement reminds me of the woman who, at that recent protest in Iran, climbed a pole and removed her hijab.
One might say, “We have to censor these pictures. Otherwise, children might see them!” Let me turn that around and ask: What message are we sending to children now, particularly to girls?
The message, expressed baldly, is this: there are parts of you that are evil. You must cover them up, or bad things will happen to you and to other girls. You will cause men to do bad things, and it will be your fault, because you weren’t modest.
If a man behaves badly, there are laws we can enforce to stop the behavior and punish it. We can publicly shame and estrange certain people, as we did with Harvey Weinstein. Let’s enforce our laws. Let’s not blame the victim.
More than that, let’s teach boys a more respectful way to treat women and girls. Let’s create a world where our daughters, and our sons too, can live and walk and play without fear of violence, a world that is empowering and liberating for everyone.
It’s too big a job to make in a single step, but let’s take a step. Let’s see ourselves as beautiful creatures in our own perfect skin. Let’s move that line and set it down in a different spot. We can block images that are degrading, violent, or intended to humiliate. These beautiful Fine Art photos should stand uncensored.
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message 1:
by
K.J.
(new)
Mar 23, 2018 07:52PM
Slyph's account was reinstated on March 23rd, 2018. To my knowledge, no explanation was offered, either for its deactivation or for its reinstatement.
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