What does this photo say to you? Do you think it’s artistic? Beautiful? Too explicit for social media? Something that shouldn’t be shared? This is what I want to talk about today.
So this image is one of a couple shots from this angle. As you can see, I’m obviously topless and barefoot running around a forest. But here’s the kicker, at what point does a photo go from decent to too far?
Let me talk about the photo you will not see first.
That photo is very similar to this shot, but I am twirling my dress from side to side and a small portion of the side of my breast is showing with no nipple.
My husband and I had a very long conversation about this second shot, and about these crazy rules of society. We discussed how conflicting everything is. I’ve never really given the subject much thought, but now that I’m trying to figure out the line of appropriate, things seem skewed.
So this photo here, is fine right? If it’s not fine. What’s wrong with it? Is my naked back the line of inappropriate? If so, why am I allowed to wear a string bikini, but if I don’t have the string on my back, that’s wrong?
If this photo is fine, what about adding in some side boob? Does that suddenly make the photo deemed inappropriate? Is a small amount of side boob the same as a full frontal shot of breasts?
What about artistic nude photos with models? Are those allowed to be creative and unique, or are all of those women deemed “sluts?”
If you are okay with artistic nude, where is the line for having artistic nude? Is this photo not artistic because it’s just my back showing, and not my entire body?
Then, what about the “free the nipple” movement. We can post a photo of a breast, but it will get flagged if you can see a nipple. How does that fit in to all of this?
Also, what about breast feeding compared to cleavage? A woman feeding her baby in public can be deemed as inappropriate, but I can walk around in a bathing suit top showing cleavage?
I can remember a girl who was from my hometown in Milton who used to rollerblade around the city in her bra. I can remember people deeming that as “strange”, but if she was rollerblading with shorts and a tank top. That would be no issue.
Now you may think that I’m being overly sensitive about the whole issue, but I know many women who don’t really care, but are not okay with anything more than this shot. I also know women who look down on other women when they show extra skin, but I also know women who post beautiful artistic nude shots of themselves. This is what confuses me.
Where is the line? Why is the line there? How did we get here?
I’ve always wanted to do a earthy nude forest shoot, but now that I’ve been pondering what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to post, it’s hard to imagine myself posting such pictures that I once would have been so proud of.
So why is the line so hard to find? Why do women like myself struggle to feel confident posting beautiful photos of themselves?
Do nude models feel insecure about their work? Do people have problems with this like I do? Do you have to be Sara Underwood famous to post such work? Do you have to have incredibly thick skin to be able to show any parts of your body?
Let’s talk about this! I would love to hear your point of view on the subject. Comment on my Instagram post and let me know what you think! Or you can comment here in this blog post ❤️