So of course… we’re sharing. And writing about it. Chris Graham explains.
New Matilda readers might recall that a year ago today, we unexpectedly caused a bit of a shit fight.
It was March 9, 2016 – the day after International Women’s Day. As part of our coverage of the occasion, we ran excerpts from a speech that Arrente writer, feminist, blogger and unionist Celeste Liddle delivered the previous day, at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre.
We illustrated the story – which was in part about the censoring of women on social media – with a picture of two Aboriginal women performing ceremony in Central Australia.
Here it is again, just in case you forgot.
Facebook banned New Matilda, this writer, and countless numbers of New Matilda readers from the social media platform for sharing the image. Apparently, nipples are highly offensive. Particularly Aboriginal nipples.
More remarkably, Celeste Liddle was banned from Facebook a total of seven times (for over a month in total) for sharing, re-sharing, re-sharing etc etc the story.
What followed was an international media shitstorm, after we pointed out that Esquire Magazine had run a highly sexualized image of Kim Kardashian – replete with paint over her nipples – only a day earlier, but received no ban. Apparently not all nipples are created equally. 
We even pointed out that in banning Celeste Liddle for her third infraction, Facebook was simultaneously promoting a story that featured a naked woman on a bicycle with a dildo. That got us nowhere as well.
You can read the complete saga here.
Now, a year later, Facebook has apparently had a change of heart. Or so it seems.
This morning, Facebook invited this writer to ‘share a memory’ from a year ago. You guessed it… the original story, replete with unedited photo of said nipples.
Critics might suggest that it’s merely yet another stuff up from a clunky, automated Facebook process that frequently gets it wrong.
We prefer to think that Facebook has had a change of heart, and that female nipples are now officially no longer offensive… so says Lord Mark Zuckerberg.
Either way, we’re sharing the story again… and encouraging readers to do the same (mindful that, if our optimism is misplaced, Facebook is going to ban you). You can just click on the story link and go to the left of your screen (or the bottom if you’re on a mobile), and click the share button.
Best of luck… and smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Or if you prefer, try a delicious drop of Sparkke ‘Nipples are nipples’ Hard Lemonade… click on the box below for store details!
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