Zac Efron’s Nipples Explain Body Shaming and Censorship
From Kendall Jenner to Miley Cyrus, your favorite stars are coming forward to fight against censorship of the female form, which has been on the forefront of social media for some time now. Free the Nipple enthusiasts take on bans from apps like Instagram by posting photos featuring female nipples, usually to have them taken down pretty quickly. One new app, nood, founded by Melina DiMarco and co-created by Michelle Wang, is hoping to at least give power to that unfair censorship, providing its own body-positive stickers to place over women’s body parts that are considered too sexual for standard viewership. The problem? The Apple App Store rejected the app, citing “objectionable material.”
According to Apple’s guidelines, objectionable content is qualified as "overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined by Webster's Dictionary as 'explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.'" Since the app’s content focuses explicitly on covering what society seems inherently sexual about a woman but not a man (as in, her nipples, but not his), it’s a little confusing why Apple would have a problem with it, especially since apps like Snapchat and Aviary already use similar stickers. The difference, of course, is that those stickers don’t come with such a blunt application. That is, while users of other photo apps are possibly taking photos of a full range of people, places, and things, nood is explicitly a destination for nudity to be covered up with body-positive stickers. This honesty about the nature of the app appears to be the reason it got rejected.
"Nudity is natural," says nood founder Melina DiMarco. "Yet, the negative connotations surrounding the female form are a result of society often misinterpreting nudity for sexuality. Young women grow up only seeing the female body being objectified and sexualized in media. It is important for all women to have the freedom to present their body on their own terms — without shame, restriction, or hypocrisy. There is nothing wrong with our bodies and there is nothing wrong with being nood."
Apple’s decision to ban the app perpetuates the idea of a woman’s body as inherently and only sexual. A man’s nude chest can be a lot of things besides sexy: funny, casual, and even "just there." But a woman’s naked chest, according to this mindset, can only be objectionable content, and that’s the problem. We’re hoping Apple changes their mind. For a little push, here are 10 photos of Zac Efron’s perpetually uncovered chest covered by the same stickers nood hopes to let women use. Because if women can’t be topless on a horse whenever they want, neither should he.
Courtesy of nood1/10Physical activity is important for everyone, but only the privileged few (or, okay, half the population) have the luxury of shooting hoops without worrying about being "inappropriately" dressed.
Courtesy of nood3/10I personally love to be able to climb a rope topless, because that makes so much sense. Alas, I can't, because I have female breasts.
Courtesy of nood4/10"Am I still shirtless because my being shirtless is totally fine by society's standards whereas a woman casually wandering around topless would somehow mean her body is up for grabs for whoever's around? Yeah, I am, thanks for calling to ask."
Courtesy of nood5/10None of my favorite necklaces pair well with shirts but I still have to wear shirts with them and that's unfair, Zac, that's just unfair.
Courtesy of nood6/10The pure joy of not being deemed immoral by society's standards for whatever you're wearing even though you honestly just thought it looked dope and felt great and also it wasn't a shirt, seen on Zac's face here, is unknown to those whose bodies are constantly censored.
Courtesy of nood7/10This is the face you make when you ask your female friend why she put on a shirt for your day out on the beach and she said "because if I don't wear a shirt I'm immediately signaling to the world that I'm a sexual object up for debate instead of just Zac Efron's friend on the beach" and you're like, "I'm Zac Efron and I honestly had no idea about this double standard."
Courtesy of nood8/10Cis women, trans folks, and intersex people are all used to being shamed for their bodies by way of censorship. But if you’re Zac Efron, male privilege allows you to do things like riding a horse completely topless.
Courtesy of nood9/10TFW your gender allows you to do whatever you want with your body with zero consequences.
Courtesy of nood10/10To recap: fear of the female form is a misogynistic worldview that contributes to rape culture, body shaming, and a drastic double standard in the daily existence of men, women, and people of all gender identities. Your body belongs to you, and however much of it you want to share with the world should be entirely your call.
