Softpedia >News >Life and Style >Celebrity News
Softpedia Homepage   

Chelsea Handler Spoofs Putin’s Topless Horse-Riding Photo, Gets Instant Instagram Ban

Comedienne proves sexism is alive and well on social media

Nov 1, 2014 09:13 GMT  ·  By
Russian President Vladimir Putin goes horse-riding, ditches the shirt – but Chelsea Handler can’t do the same, at least not on Instagram
   Russian President Vladimir Putin goes horse-riding, ditches the shirt – but Chelsea Handler can’t do the same, at least not on Instagram

You may have heard of the “free the nipple” campaign on Twitter and Instagram, which saw countless women, some famous and more not, post topless photos in support of equality. The idea of the campaign was that, while men could easily post photos of themselves sans shirt, women had theirs removed because they violated the community rules.

Comedienne Chelsea Handler is lending her own voice to the “fight” for equal standards for men and women on social media, but so far, all she managed to do was get a ban from Instagram.

She’s already sworn it off, because she doesn’t want to be part of something that acts as if guided by 1825 principles.

If men can do it, women should be able to do it too

Attached to this article is one of the most famous promo photos from Russian President Vladimir Putin, one that is meant not only to show the world in what great shape he is, but also how much he loves the outdoors.

The pic has been mocked and spoofed more times than Putin probably likes to keep count, and Handler is the latest to do so. However, she did it to prove a point, namely that if a man could pose like this and have his picture on social media and in the press, women should be able to do the same, without having their breasts or their nipples covered up or otherwise censored.

From the tweets embedded below, you will understand that Handler had no success in getting Instagram to change its policy on this kind of content. Not even the argument that a mother nursing was allowed to show her breast while she couldn’t didn’t help.

Instagram is sexist, Chelsea is done with it

The comedienne gave it a second shot as well, to the same result: Instagram pulled down the photo and sent her an explanation for why they acted this way, saying the photo had been in violation of their community rules.

Handler’s response was to cry discrimination. “Taking this down is sexist. I have every right to show I have a better body than Putin,” she argued, to absolutely no avail.

In the end, a frustrated Handler announced that she was quitting Instagram and would remain active only on Twitter, where, she said, at least it was up to her followers to decide what was “suitable” and what not.

She has about 5.57 million of those, so we’re assuming they will let her post topless photos, whether it’s to prove a point or for comedic effect. Or, you know, if that’s what Chelsea feels like doing one day when she wakes up.