Photographer Mom Suspended From Facebook For Recreating The Coppertone Girl Pose With Her 2-year-old
I think I’m going to start calling the summer months “Baby Sexualization Season” because that is apparently what the world has come to. Yet another mother was temporarily banned from social media for posting a perfectly innocuous photo that just happened to show s sliver of her daughter’s backside. This time around, photographer Jill White was targeted when she posted an adorable recreation of the iconic “Coppertone Girl” pose from an ad campaign the company ran in the 1950’s. That’s right, folks. Facebook’s prudishness has now officially surpassed even the 50’s. Remember, this was the same decade where Elvis Presley was banned for moving his hips the wrong way. Facebook is now the social media equivalent of your crotchety older aunt who tells you to pull your skirt down and take off that whore lipstick even though you’re 35 and married.
Below is the (now edited) photo in all it’s subversive glory:
I don’t know about you, but I’m scandalized! So very, very scandalized. I think I’m getting the vapors. According to WBTV, White took the photo earlier this week with the intention of posting it on Coppertone’s Facebook page:
“I posted the photo on Coppertone’s Facebook,’ White told WBTV. ‘We thought it would be cute because of the old Coppertone ad and her tan line looked like that.”
The “fireworks” began on July 3rd when White received a notification from Facebook letting her know that she had been reported for violating the site’s community guidelines. White was given the choice of either removing the photo, changing her privacy setting so it couldn’t be seen, or ignoring the warning if she felt it was made in error. According to White:
“Well I ignored it,’ Mrs White said. ‘No way did I think it would fit the criteria of nudity or pornography and if you read the terms of use in settings no where does it state that this would be considered either.”
Apparently Facebook had other ideas, and the next day White was given a 24 hour ban from the site. When the ban was lifted, White replaced the photo with an edited version where she placed a smiley face emoji over the “offensive” area. Well, even this wasn’t enough to soothe the indignant butthurt felt by some anonymous morality troll because this photo was also reported for nudity:
“I got back on with another photo, this time a big Emoji face on the area of the butt crack,’ she said.
‘Now it is being reviewed again for nudity and pornography.”
Thankfully, after examining the edited version, Facebook sided with White and allowed it to stay. But, the way I see it, White shouldn’t have needed to edit the photo in the first place. There is nothing pornographic about either version of the shot.
White is actually lucky in this scenario. Last month another young mom discovered one morning that her entire Instagram account had been deleted due to a photo that no one in their right mind would consider sexual. So parents, beware. That adorable shot of your toddler playing in the sprinklers might just land you in some hot water if the Social Media Pearl Clutcher Society catches wind of it They’re always watching..
(Photos: Facebook)
