Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Scout Willis explains topless Instagram protest
- Scout Willis, the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, says she loved Instagram
- She walked topless in New York City to protest the websites policy on breast photos
- Her goal is that women should not be ashamed of their bodies
(CNN) -- "For the record, I've always really loved Instagram."
So says Scout Willis, who recently protested the social photo sharing site by walking topless through the streets of New York City and posting the photographs on Twitter.
Willis, the 22-year-old daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, wrote about her reasoning for her naked uprising for XOJane.com.
Willis explained that "Instagram had recently deleted my account over what they called 'instances of abuse.' Which in reality amounted to a photo of myself in a sheer top and a post of a jacket I made featuring a picture of two close friends topless."
"My situation was in no way unique; women are regularly kicked off Instagram for posting photos with any portion of the areola exposed, while photos sans nipple -- degrading as they might be -- remain unchallenged," Willis wrote. "So I walked around New York topless and documented it on Twitter, pointing out that what is legal by New York state law is not allowed on Instagram."
It is not illegal in New York City for a woman to be topless in public as long as she is otherwise law abiding.
The young actress wrote that she understands that many "don't want to take me seriously."
"Or would rather just write me off as an attention-seeking, overprivileged, ignorant, white girl," she said. "I am white and I was born to a high profile and financially privileged family. I didn't choose my public life, but it did give me this platform. A platform that helps make body politics newsworthy."
The discussion is worth it to Willis, who points out that the Free the Nipple campaign has been around for a few years fighting to do away with the "taboo of the nipple in the 21st century." She said she's happy to have furthered the discussion.
"I am not trying to argue for mandatory toplessness, or even bralessness," Willis wrote. "What I am arguing for is a woman's right to choose how she represents her body -- and to make that choice based on personal desire and not a fear of how people will react to her or how society will judge her. No woman should be made to feel ashamed of her body."
Source : http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_entertainment/~3/GxClROVx5lY/index.html