A 19-year-old college student from Ohio is accusing Instagram of size discrimination after her account was removed following a photo she took of herself in a bra and boy shorts.
Samm Newman, who is U.S. size 24, told NBC4i that the modest polka dot underwear covered her in the image, adding: 'I've seen [lingerie] pictures like that all over Instagram.'
Instagram, which has guidelines against sharing photos that show nudity, removed Miss Newman's account for 'violating community guidelines', but the social media platform has since apologized, saying it 'wrongly removed content and worked to rectify the error as soon as we were notified'.
'When our team processes reports from other members of the Instagram community, we occasionally make a mistake,' explained a spokesperson for Instagram, who added that the company acted off a user complaint in this instance. 'We apologize for any inconvenience.'
Paradoxically, Miss Newman, who was bullied through junior high and high school, said her self-confidence improved when she got into college thanks to support she found online.
'Fat is not a bad word,' said Miss Newman. 'How confident can you be if you keep censoring yourself because people don't want to look at you?'
Four months ago, Miss Newman found a group of young women through hash tags like #bodylove and #pizzasister4lyfe; they began following each other, and complimenting pictures in the comments section.
'My Instagram, it was my safe place because when I was there, I could share anything,' Miss Newman said, adding that there is a double standard on within the community.
'I didn't find the bra at all inappropriate,' explained Miss Newman, saying that there are accounts dedicated entirely to lingerie shots of slimmer women.
The college student said she hopes her story will provide motivation for other plus-size women.
'I’m going to make a difference in the world,' she said.
This isn't the first time Instagram has been forced to apologize after removing a plus-size woman’s photo.
In May, 29-year-old Meghan Tonjes, from Los Angeles, shared a 'butt selfie', which showed her wearing a pair of black bikini briefs and T-shirt.
It was captioned 'booty appreciation #honormycurves #effyourbeautystandards'.
She was furious when she received an email from Instagram notifying her that the image had been taken down because it violated the site's nudity rules - despite the fact that thousands of Instagram users, including Kim Kardashian and ‘butt selfie queen’ Jen Selter, post similar photos every day without issue.
Ms Tonjes, who weighed 321lbs at her heaviest, responded with a powerful YouTube tirade accusing Instagram of double standards.
Miss Newman, who is U.S. size 24, said that Instgram has double standards, explaining: 'I've seen [lingerie] pictures all over Instagram' - pictured: Miley Cyrus (left) and a Lonely Lingerie model (right)
'I didn't find the bra at all inappropriate,' said Miss Newman of her selfie,adding that slimmer women, especially celebrities like WAG Caroline Berg Eriksen (left) and Kim Kardashian (right) often post lingerie images
SOURCE
No comments:
Post a Comment