Scout Willis is taking a stand. In a show of protest against Instagram’s super-strict nudity policy, the 22-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis went topless on the streets of New York City on Tuesday, May 27, and then shared the pictures of her outing on Twitter.
“Legal in NYC but not on @instagram,” she captioned one of the photos, which showed her shopping for flowers while wearing just a skirt. Alongside another shot, she wrote, “What @instagram won’t let you see. #FreeTheNipple” See more recent pics of Scout Willis.
The Brown University alum’s boycott of the photo-sharing platform seems to have been prompted, at least in part, by the removal of a photo she posted of a jacket featuring two bare-chested women. Her issues with Instagram’s nudity policy, however, are bigger than just one picture, and speak to a larger debate about what’s considered acceptable or obscene.
“Why does @instagram allow photos of heroin being used but deletes a photo of a print of some smoke shows without tops on???” she tweeted on May 20. “Like people are legitimately selling heroin on @instagram but photos of breasts are just too too much for this world…”
Over the next several days, she proceeded to tweet raunchy pics deemed “acceptable” by Instagram, juxtaposed with more artsy shots deemed “unacceptable,” simply because they featured a visible nipple. “Thinking of starting a new Instagram account as an experiment. Only beautiful, artistic nudes. And let’s see how long till I get kicked off,” Willis wrote on May 26.
She then followed through with that plan, announcing later that same day, “Made a new Instagram, gonna post lots of beautiful photos of naked women I think. Tasteful, non aggressive, whomever wants to see can.” Less than 24 hours later, however, she had been kicked off the site.
On Tuesday, May 27, Willis upped her game against the app, noting that pictures of breast cancer survivors had been “flagged+deleted” but other photos—like one of a buxom woman with two strips of fabric covering her nipples—were allowed to remain. She even changed her Instagram name to “Scout (Areola) Willis.”
Later, responding to a follower who questioned her outrage over “not being able to post nude photos,” she replied, “It has nothing to do with me posting nudes on Instagram. It’s about the basic hypocrisy of what is and isn’t allowed. Violence, drugs, and the general degradation of women is ok but areola is 100% taboo. That’s why I am mad.”
When the follower then criticized her methods and said she was exploiting herself, Willis added, “I am sorry if you feel that way. I feel very empowered and brave though, not exploited. People have been incredibly supportive.”
