Naked women rowers’ Facebook page unbanned

Warwick Rowing’s women’s naked calendar page has been brought back on Facebook after being completely banned for two days.

The Facebook page was banned after it was deemed to contain “explicitly sexual content” on Wednesday 16 July, and reinstated on Friday 18 after the rowers took to Twitter to publicise their cause which reached national attention.

Warwick Rowing Women’s Naked Calendar posted on Facebook on Friday night:
“We are thrilled to announce that as a result of everyones amazing support against Facebook’s actions (and largely due to the great work of the Press) we now have our Facebook page back up and running. We couldn’t have done this without you all and we cannot express how much this means to us.”

The rowers were told that they were breaching their ‘nudity and pornography’ policy by posting their nude photos in order to gain support for their calendar.

The page was first removed on Wednesday 9 July. It gave the rowers an option to appeal and remove their ‘sexually explicit content’.

Their appeal was however rejected and it was completely banned seven days later.

Is this really not appropriate for Facebook? @facebook think it’s #pornography! #facebookbannedourpage pic.twitter.com/BDcAXFTAUL

— UWBC Girls Calendar (@nakedgirlsrow) July 17, 2014

The women’s calendar page has been unpublished by Facebook approximately three times over the last few years, Hettie Reed, calendar organiser and now History graduate claimed. She said: “I don’t know exact times as I’ve been managing this press whilst working so was all a bit hectic.

“Each time this has happened, I found my personal account had been blocked and the page unpublished. Facebook then redirected you to the photo that was deemed a violation and in order to proceed, you had to agree to have it removed.

“And each time, I sent an email off to Facebook and reported it to the help centres but never got a response. Then this time, Facebook outright deleted it.

“When sending more emails didn’t work, I decided to turn to Twitter as I had been able to drum up a fair bit of press in the past with it. It consequently caused this huge storm and eventually Facebook must have given in.”

She also said that though the men’s naked calendar have had one or a few of their photos reported on Facebook, their page has never been taken down.

Sophie Bell, incoming third-year History undergraduate and another of the calendar’s organisers, described Facebook’s authorisation of the men’s calendar page as “borderline sexism” in a Daily Mail report.

Ms Reed commented: “I think the issue is split between Facebook and the people on Facebook – it would be the members who reported the photos that initially flagged this up and then it would be Facebook who made the executive decision to remove us.

“So I guess Facebook made that decision perhaps based on the fact that more people reported our photos. But it does all come down to the issues surrounding female nudity which not as accepted as male nudity.”

When asked why she thought there was more of social stigma against female nudity, she replied: “It is merely because it has been entrenched within society that way.

“The bulk of critique we receive is that female nudity sexually objectifies women and leads to our discrimination. But I think what people are completely missing is that if we want to be naked, we can.

“Surely, if we were to spend our lives covered up when our men of society can be freely naked, we are exposing ourselves to discrimination.”

 

@nakedgirlsrow @facebook Disgusting. You all need a haircut. Seriously How on earth can this picture be described as pornographic?

— Ray Griffiths (@acleray) July 17, 2014

 

@nakedgirlsrow @facebook You can see butts on TV! #freethebutt #facebookmustchange

— Michael Connolly (@nudeyman) July 17, 2014