Australian Comedian Celeste Barber Trended In 2020, Here's Why

In October 2020, Comedian Celeste Barber created a lot of buzz on social media when she called out Instagram for discriminating against plus-size women. The row started when Barber uploaded her nude picture mimicking one picture posted by Victoria's Secret model Candace Swanepoel. While Candace Swanepoel's picture could be shared by people, users were unable to share Barber's picture as Instagram notified that it violates"community guidelines on nudity or sexual activity."

 

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A post shared by Celeste Barber (@celestebarber)

Reacting to this, Barber wrote on Instagram, "Hey Instagram, sort out your body-shaming standards, guys. It's 2020. Catch up." The picture in question is a collage of Candace Swanepoel's and Celeste Barber's almost same picture. While Swanepoel sits completely unclothed, Barber's underwear is clearly visible.

Many fans and other social media users started calling out Instagram for body-shaming Celeste and treating plus size women differently.

Later, Celeste informed everyone that Instagram did reach out to her to apologise.  After a number of fans left comments calling out Instagram for flagging Barber's photo, the comedian wrote on her Instagram story that the platform had apologized to her. She wrote in her story,  "Instagram emailed me an apology, bless, saying it was an error and that they are working to fix it. They also said that even the people that tried to share my post will be able to."

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A part of the statement issued to Celeste reported by Business Insider said, "This shouldn't be happening and we are committed to addressing any inequality on our platforms. We expect to update our breast covering policies very soon, to make sure all body types are treated fairly," the statement read.

According to the guidelines shared on Instagram, nudity meaning exposed genitals, buttocks, or female nipples is not allowed. However, people in the past have also complained about how these guidelines are stricter for plus size women than it is for smaller women.