A picture was removed from Rupi Kaur’s Instagram. Okay, no story in that. But the picture was not “NFSW”. That is, it didn’t have any nudity. It had a fully clothed woman sleeping on her bed alone. Only, she had a stain on her pyjamas– a menstrual misgiving.
Instagram deemed it wasn’t adhering to its “Community Guidelines”.
Rupi confronted Instagram by questioning the grounds on which her picture was removed. Rupi, who’s based out of Toronto, said, “Instagram provided me with the exact response my work was created to critique.”
I will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak. When your (Instagram) pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified, pornified, and treated less than human.
Rupi Kaur, artist and poet
Instagram brought back the picture in less than two days, saying someone from their team had “accidentally removed” the picture.
This was the picture
The picture is part of a photo series: period.
period. is the name of the photo series shot by Rupi and her sister Prabh Kaur.
The sisters pose a simple question – when people are comfortable with the sexualization of women, their violence and degradation, how can they be disgusted with this natural process?
We menstruate and they see it as dirty. attention seeking. sick. a burden. as if this process is less natural than breathing. as if it is not a bridge between this universe and the last. as if this process is not love. labour. life. selfless and strikingly beautiful.
– Rupi Kaur, creator of photo series period.
Rupi was set free by the prudishness of Instagram. What will it take to #freeyourmind?
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