Missy Ink Magazine Missy Ink Magazine - Fall 2015 - Censorship | Page 88

MODEL CITIZEN Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by the nude form. I constantly sketched from female references of nude models that were graceful in their proficient poses. Never have I thought that one day, I would become one of those models. But as I grew up and began modelling, I started to notice that other people did not share my love and acceptance of the nude female form. I started out as a nude model over three years ago posing for various artists. There, I found a community that had no negative thoughts toward a topless female. Just like me, they did not think of female breasts to be overtly sexual. Instead, they thought of them as a part of a captivating form that they recreated in their artwork. I loved being a part of this community and to watch these artists pull inspiration from all kinds of female models of different body types and ages, all of which were regarded as beautiful. Sadly, I noticed that the world outside this community was not so inspired. When I got into modelling for photography, I started to notice that my fellow models were getting harassed for their topless photos online. I would constantly see their photos get reported and removed just because you could see their breasts. I never thought this was an issue but soon started to get harassed for my own photos on other websites. I needed to know why this was such a large problem. I started to research the topic of toplessness. I wanted to find out why people were so offended by a breast and why people were so disgusted by the sight of a woman feeding her child. Why was everyone so keen on hiding boobs from the world? It bothered me. The first thing I wanted to find out was what exactly was offensive about a breast. At first, I thought that it was the fatty tissue that made people so uncomfortable, but later realized that was not the case. Women with smaller breasts with little to no fatty tissue were still getting penalized for their toplessness. It was not the size or shape of the breasts that was causing such grief. Missy/Ink | Issue 18 I STAR TED TO N OTICE TH AT MY FELLO W MO DE LS W ER E GETTIN G H AR A SSE D FO R TH E I R TO P LE SS P H OTO S. . . 88