One of the most beautiful things I've seen all day are the photos (like the one pictured here) from the Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project. In each portrait, a breast cancer survivor poses with a brightly painted chest. The women in the pictures say that the experience has been enlightening and therapeutic, and has reignited their spirits. But unlike me and probably you, Facebook isn't a fan.
Not long after the pics were posted on the social network, they were taken down by the site. Facebook blasted the photos as pornography, citing inappropriate nudity, which is a violation of the terms of use. Gone also were the many supportive, uplifting comments that had been left under the photographs. Wow. Facebook really knows how to be a total buzzkill, huh?
Making the situation even more dismaying is the fact that the artist, Michael Colanero, who is the creator of the project, said he took care in making the images "child-safe." He elaborated:
I want them to be in oncology clinics and children's hospitals. I've gone out of my way to make them nonsexual. People come into the gallery and put their hands on the pictures, crying. They can empathize and just learn and be more aware.
Wow, that doesn't make Facebook look totally inhumane AT ALL, huh? Heh! Really, what's going on here is simply more of the same. Every so often, the site automatically takes down a photo that is completely harmless, because on the surface, it's breasts, nudity, whatever. It's almost like they've got some kind of code that is programmed to detect breasts on the site and then immediately remove the photo. Like it's not actually humans monitoring the site. Eerie!!
I don't think that's necessarily the case, but Zuck & Co. need to start showing us there really are humans behind the social network. As in, real people who can tell the difference between porn/unnecessary nudity and art. It wouldn't be that difficult. All they'd have to do is carefully consider photos like these on a case-by-case basis instead of defaulting to knee-jerk electronic censorship. Facebook is about real people connecting with one another after all, right? So why aren't the people running it showing their humanity?
Here's a video of more of the body painting if you'd like to check it out ... uncensored!
What do you think about the censorship of these photos?
Image via Uncommon Gallery/Splash News
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Comments 88
I think Facebook's got rules, and they have to enforce those rules across the board. If they make exceptions for one, they have to make exceptions for others, and then who knows what kind of actually questionable content would be allowed to be posted. So it's all about keeping that can of worms closed. Which I can understand.
You can't even really see the nipples. I don't see the big deal, Facebook.
"Child-safe" is what makes me laugh here, though. A good chunk of us started out with breasts being one of the very first things we saw, touched and interacted with. What damage would it do to a child to see these photographs?
I understand where facebook is coming from. Obviously it's a touchy subject because these women have been through a lot, but the pictures are revealing. Think if it this way, do these women really want to potentially become porn for sex starved young male facebookers? I've heard of teenage boys using much more tame images than these.
I've seen way more inapropriate pictures recently on facebook with everyone uploading their halloween pics, you may not see actual nipples or cooch but you can see everything else in those!
these pictures are beautiful and tasteful and convey amazing stories! I am sorry to these women whose pictures do not get to be shown and for the artist! Facebook should really reconsider their policies!
Ewwww!!! I hate boobs, and I hate seeing boobs. Good job, facebook! Also, why does breast cancer get all the attention? There are most cancers out there, you know.
I just "shared" it back to my Facebook page. Take that! MWAHAHA!
Seriously though, I think that these are beautiful portraits. They obviously made the women that participated feel beautiful too, and that is what really matters. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that Facebook deletes pictures like these and the ones women post of themselves breastfeeding (usually no nipple showing in those anyway). All it does is perpetuate that lovely idea that breasts are something "dirty" that need to be hidden. Another thing...Did they not notice that some of these women no longer have breasts? Or, that some of them had reconstructed breasts that did not even have those oh-so-evil nipples on them that apparently make people...I don't know, maybe they are afraid teenage boys will become rapists, and dogs and cats will want to marry each other if anyone sees real human nipples. As someone mentioned earlier, there are plenty of tasteless and downright nasty photos on Facebook of clothed people. Let's not punish a few breast cancer survivors for showing off what they earned the right to show off!
I don't like the picture. I find it offensive and not pleasing at the least to my eyes.
I can understand why these photos wer not alowed on fb..the one with the roses is tatseful, but the other show a little too much.
i just saw a picture on facebook with 3 old ladies topless with a frog pianted on each ones chest that said bud wei ser. good job censoring the offensive crap facebook.