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Award-winning internationally published photographer Renée Jacobs has been booted off of Facebook. Why?
Considering Facebook’s questionable reputation regarding pulling lesbian images – some of you may remember the And Then Came Lola ad that Facebook yanked – it’s tough to view Jacobs’ removal from the site as anything other than flat-out homophobia.
Here’s the photo that got her kicked off of Facebook.
Below is a screengab of Facebook's message to Jacobs beside the wall-sized photo hanging in the window of the famed Kopeikin Gallery on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
Yes, there are two topless women embracing. And if it had been an Abercrombie and Fitch ad featuring an underage boy and girl FB would probably use it as an ad.
FB's "Terms of Service" prevent the posting of anything that is "pornographic, contains nudity or is inappropriately sexual." They've picked a curious target in Jacobs, who is not only the recipient of the prestigious 2008 International Photography Award for Fine Art Nude, but is a former civil rights, first amendment and constitutional litigator.
Jacobs gave the following Statement regarding her removal from the Facebook to SheWired:
"Well, we all know that there's been much worse material on FB. It's hard to see how this is anything but discriminatory. As a photographer with a background in law, I've tried to adhere strictly to Facebook’s Terms of Service. I believe they have the right to be as prudish and ridiculous as they want, as long as it's applied evenhandedly. This--however--is blatantly discriminatory. The photo does not in any way have nudity (you can barely see the side of one breast), it's not pornographic (not even under the Supreme Court's nebulous standards of "I know it when I see it.....".
How the is the photo something that is inappropriately sexual? Only if you feel that two adult women shouldn't be lovers. Other artists have been booted off of Facebook, notably Savannah Spirit and Marne Lucas, two New York artists who were reinstated after New York Magazine art writer Jerry Saltz helped publicize the silliness of it all.
Jacobs, whose work is in the permanent collection of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and who routinely censors work she puts up on FB with strategically placed black bars, is hoping--demanding actually--that FB reinstates her original profile, she told SW.
"I had more than 1,700 friends and business contacts. If Facebook wants to be taken seriously as a place of business and networking for adults, they need to address this issue. Many people link to their 3rd party blogs that allow a check box for 18+ viewing,” Jacobs said.
You can view more of Jacobs' work at her website www.reneejacobs.com and in recent interviews in international magazines Fine Art Photo, Silvershotz, B&W, Photoicon and many others.
If you believe this is unfair, please repost and "like" the "Reinstate Renee Jacobs" Facebook page.
UPDATE: Renee Jacobs has informed us that she has been reinstated to Facebook due in no small part to the efforts of the grassroots campaign that petioned for it to happen. She wants to thank all who voiced their opinions anc concerns to Facebook.
