Instagram’s not doing itself any favors by banning body positive hashtag “curvy”. Already under fire from women the world over because of its policy regarding female nipples, the social media platform’s ousting of #curvy is bound to cause similar outcry from those who use the word to celebrate being confident in their own skin, whatever size they are. Instead #curvy joins the outcast ranks of the aubergine emoji and we’re met with a bunch of alternative suggestions like #curvygirl, #curvyfashion and #curvywomen.
A spokesperson from Instagram told Mashable that the ban was brought in because the word was used to promote images that violated their community guidelines: “I can confirm that we did block the hashtag #curvy. It was being used to share content that violates our guidelines around nudity. Please note that the block has nothing to do with the term ‘curvy’ itself.”
The words “skinny”, “thin” and “vaginas”, however, are still searchable. As artist and activist Sam Roddick (who had her Instagram account deleted forever for posting a picture of a suggestive rose cornice) explained to HuffPost UKLifestyle, “They have banned images of breast feeding, stretch marks, domestic images of menstruation and classical art works that respectfully portray nude women and now they ban the hashtag #curvy. While they allow bitch, fat slag, hookers, thin – this is not a safe platform for women and especially young girls (as we all know Instagram is populated with nude images of young women effectively selling themselves sexually).”
While it’s totally understandable why sexualized images are removed from the platform, the banning of #curvy seems regressive amidst a massive online movement towards body diversity and acceptance.