Iceland’s feminists are rallying against cyber bullying and fighting for topfreedom by baring their breasts on Twitter and other social media under the hashtag #FreeTheNipple.
The movement kicked off last night after an Icelandic girl bared her breasts on Twitter in a bid to promote gender equality only to be graphically bullied by an Icelandic boy. The two have since deleted their tweets but in reaction to this event thousands of Icelandic women, including members of parliament and celebrities, have tweeted messages of support, rallies for an end to double standards and of course, pictures of their own nipples in solidarity.
Bright Future MP Björt Ólafsdóttir exposed her nipple on Twitter writing, “this one here is for feeding babies. Shove that up your patriarchy.”
Þessi er hérna til að gefa börnum að borða. Troðiði því upp í feðraveldið á ykkur. #FreeTheNipple pic.twitter.com/4HmYzJO08k
— Björt Ólafsdóttir (@bjortolafs) March 25, 2015
The student body organisations of a number of junior colleges and the University of Iceland have decreed that today, Thursday March 26 will be “no bra day”.
Við hvetjum konur í Verzló til þess að taka þátt í #freethenipple og vera BRALESS á morgun. Við erum öll með nipplur so EMBRACE YOURS! — Femínistafélag VÍ (@ffvi1415) March 25, 2015
“The goal is simply to further gender equality. Topless women are such a taboo and it’s accepted within society that this is something that isn’t ok. Breasts aren’t genitals and we just want to celebrate the body,” Bóel Sigríður Guðbrandsdóttir, chair of the junior college Verzlunarskóli Íslands’ Feminist Association, told Vísir.
“For me it’s about being the way you want,” said Heiður Anna Helgadóttir, chair of the Feminist Association of the University of Iceland. “It’s just a body part. Boys have breasts and nipples and it’s fine for them to expose them. The same should apply to us.”
Some choice tweets about #FreeTheNipple In Iceland
Singer and Radio DJ Salka Sól Eyfeld writes, “Nipples Are Not Genitals #FreeTheNipple.”
Brjóst eru ekki kynfæri #FreeTheNipple
— Salka Sól Eyfeld (@salkadelasol) March 25, 2015
Mother of two, Vala Smáradóttir tweeted, “The most beautiful thing my body has done; carry two children and nourish them with my wonderful breasts #FreeTheNipple.”
Það fallegasta sem líkami minn hefur gert: gengið með tvö börn, nært þau með mínum yndislegu brjóstum #FreeTheNipple pic.twitter.com/d9EBaTpdcM — Vala Smaradottir (@valaibala) March 25, 2015
Karó tweeted, “my mother, a queen, wanted to be part of the revolution. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, #FreeTheNipple.”
Drottningin hún móðir mín vildi vera með í byltingunni. Hún greindist með brjóstakrabbamein árið 2013 #FreeTheNipple pic.twitter.com/T0pUB4X1nU
— karó (@typpin) March 25, 2015
Journalist Björk Brynjars writes, “if you love it set it free #FreeTheNipple.”
If you love it set it free #FreeTheNipple pic.twitter.com/jbsK2QuUyp — Björk Brynjars (@bjorkbrynjars) March 25, 2015
Herdís Eva tweets, “This shadow knows what’s up #FreeTheNipple.”
This skuggi knows whats up #FreeTheNipple pic.twitter.com/CWfXgrnDJF
— Herdis Eva (@HeddaEva) March 25, 2015
Below is the full Icelandic #FreeTheNipple twitter feed.
Tweets about #freethenipple lang:is
UPDATE: Due to Facebook banning all content from The Reykjavík Grapevine because of our #FreeTheNipple coverage, the featured image for this piece was altered. Why leave one nipple? Because the Facebook Community Standards state “…we always allow photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring”. Wow, SkyNet really is trying to seem human.
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