Instagram in sexism row after banning rowing club’s naked calendar
Warwick Rowers who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity with a naked calendar have had their Instagram account shut down because it 'breached nudity guidelines' despite similar pictures of women being allowed
INSTAGRAM has become embroiled in a sexism row after suspending an account used by a rowing club to promote its naked calendar.
The Warwick Rowers have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity but have now had their account shut down because it breached nudity guidelines.
Since their ban, the club, who have won an army of fans for posting cheeky snaps to its 180,000 followers, has been backed by celebrities including Sir Ian McKellen, Kylie Minogue and Stephen Fry.
They hit out at Instagram for allowing even more provocative images of women to remain online while removing their account.
In an open letter reported in The Times they said: “Accounts that feature similar levels of female nudity, often presented in a far more sexualised and exploitative manner than the images featuring the Warwick Rowers, are left alone to post whatever they like.
“We believe that keeping men’s bodies hidden is an expression of heterosexual male power.”
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Instagram forbids pictures of ‘sexual intercourse, genitals and close-ups of fully nude buttocks’, none of which feature in the rowers’ pictures.
The calendars have built a large gay following and much of the money raised goes to LGBT-friendly campaigns.
Although the photos are carefully monitored some of the the posts do feature body hair, including pubic hair.
Angus Malcolm, creator of the Warwick Rowers, said: “Both men and women are less accustomed to the idea of men being seen without their clothes, and therefore subjective personal opinions creep into the process.”
After Instagram was contacted for a response, it announced that the account had been restored.
It said it was ‘removed in error’ and it had ‘reactivated’ the account.
It said: ‘We apologise for any inconvenience caused.’