free the nipple

Madonna furious after Instagram removed her latest batch of photos

 

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A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

Madonna made headlines a couple of days ago when she posted a batch of sexy photos to her Instagram. Posing in bed in a pair of fishnet stockings, in some of the photos, her breasts and a nipple were visible.

Many of her fans praised the images. However, others took the opportunity to remind her of her age (63).

(Photo: @madonna/Instagram)

Broadcaster Piers Morgan was among those to call her out over the pics. He retweeted one of the images, in which she clearly shows her backside through her stockings while appearing to search for something beneath her bed. Morgan captioned it, “Rock bottom.”

Related: Madonna, worth an estimated $850 M, just bragged about not paying her employees and people are pissed

We’re all used to Madonna flashing some flesh (she’s been doing it since her Sex book 30 years ago), and refusing to conform to sexist notions of age-appropriate behavior, but that apparently doesn’t earn her a pass with Instagram.

(Photo: @madonna/Instagram)

The social media platform removed the posting, pointing to the explicitness of some of the imagery as its reason.

Madonna was furious. She reposted the images yesterday, with her nipples covered. Swipe the Instagram embed at the top of the page to see all the pics.

“I’m reposting photographs Instagram took down without warning or notification….. The reason they gave my management that does not handle my account was that a small portion of my nipple was exposed,” she said.

“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! Can’t a man’s nipple be experienced as erotic ??!!

[Editor’s note – it definitely can]

“And what about a woman’s ass which is never censored anywhere,” Madonna continued. “Giving thanks that I have managed to maintain my sanity through four decades of censorship…… sexism……ageism and misogyny.

She then went on to say point out how the censorship coincided with Thanksgiving.

“Perfectly timed with the lies we have been raised to believe about the pilgrims peacefully breaking bread with the Native American Indians when they landed on Plymouth Rock! God bless America 🇺🇸 ♥️❌ #artistsareheretodisturbthepeace”

Madonna
(Photo: @madonna/Instagram)

Again, many of her fans praised her for speaking out on the double standard by which men’s nipples are regarded as OK to show, but women’s nipples are not. Others implored her to age with dignity, saying the photos were not artistic but tacky.

Related: Madonna has a word for all the trolls who keep telling her to retire

According to Instagram’s guidelines, it does not “allow nudity. This includes photos, videos and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos in the context of breastfeeding, birth giving and after-birth moments, health-related situations (for example, post-mastectomy, breast cancer awareness or gender confirmation surgery) or an act of protest are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK too.”

At the time of writing, Madonna’s reposted photos have had 800k likes – considerably more than any of her other recent postings.

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