nicole froio

Amid Fierce Patriarchal Backlash and Surging Fascism, Does Freeing the Nipple Still Matter? A transgender woman with “indecent” breasts makes the case that topless equality is still worth fighting for.

We are now sharing a version of the image that we had ready on Instagram and Threads, with covered nipples, just in case this happened.

You can read the whole piece here:

What do you think? Does #FreeTheNipple still matter when our bodies and speech are being censored by Tech Bros?

Amid Fierce Patriarchal Backlash and Surging Fascism, Does Freeing the Nipple Still Matter? A transgender woman with “indecent” breasts makes the case that topless equality is still worth fighting for.

In November, @thebugbeardispatch.bsky.social wrote: "One can never be sure what will trigger Meta’s automatic censorship, or whether one will be able to restore one’s Facebook or Instagram account if it’s unfairly banned." 

Read more:

A screenshot of a blurred and censored photo posted on The Flytrap's Instagram account, with the word VIOLATION on top.

A screenshot of a notification from Instagram/Meta that says "we removed your photo" on February 25th, 2025. The notification shows that despite appealing, Meta did not reinstate the image, alleging that the post "may contain nudity or sexual content."

In an illustration, three people of color are shown without shirts on. Their nipples are covered by yellow band aids.

A screenshot of a snippet of Chrissy Stroop's article that reads: "Bodily autonomy and opposition to gender discrimination are feminist values that are present in many of our ongoing struggles, not least for reproductive justice. They are also at the root of arguments for topless equality, making it a worthy cause, even if its pursuit seems Quixotic—for now."

Right on cue, Meta proves worker-owner @thebugbeardispatch.bsky.social 's point about the puritanical misogyny of tech bros by censoring the innocuous illustration that goes with her essay on why topless equality still matters.

Free the nipple!!

Sex Workers Versus the Algorithm No seriously, fuck the algorithm.

HAPPY FLYTRAP TUESDAY!! This week, @sesmith.lol writes about the "algorithmic violence" navigated by sex workers across platforms, how it robs SW of their time, creativity, and (most importantly) their money.

READ BELOW:

www.theflytrapmedia.com/sex-wor/

wild how commissions just... dried up in the last two weeks...

US Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up the ​issue of whether art generated by artificial intelligence can be copyrighted under U.S. law, turning ‌away a case involving a computer scienti...

AI-created art isn't eligible for copyright protection, after the Supreme Court chose not to review a lower court ruling.

In 2022 the Copyright Office said images without “human authorship,” don't qualify for copyright protection — this was affirmed in 2023 by a district court.

P.S. if you like the art this week from our Art Fellow @meowwwls.bsky.social you can grab a poster here!

👀 anybody?

Today, US & Israeli forces bombed the Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Iran’s capital of Tehran.

Nurses supposedly risked their lives carrying newborns to safety from the rubble.

I’m having trouble finding more reporting about this, but here is at least a blurb from Reuters:

Reminder that @nora.zone and I are building a bot that will respond with Gavin Newsom Facts when people @ it BUT we need your help to populate it before we can launch. Fill out this form to add your favorite moment(s) in Newsom history.

Hello! I am a trans journalist looking to speak with trans kids and parents of trans kids across the US who have been impacted by the clinic closures---please get in touch or share!

girls be like "i needed this" and it's the communist revolution

The Ensh*ttification of the Institute of Museum and Library Services Trucks On: What's Happening and What You Can Do Nearly a year after the Institute of Museum and Library Services was dismantled, what's happening at the agency? What can we do to help out?

The Enshittification of the Institute of Museum and Library Services Trucks On: Here's What's Happening and What You Can Do.

If you missed it, the IMLS home page got an AI overhaul, among other things.

bookriot.com/the-enshitti...

The people supporting this bombing are the same people who spout canned justifications for lynching, school shootings, police brutality, and ICE building concentration camps. They do not have compassion, empathy or human decency to appeal to in way. They enjoy the suffering of others like a meal.

elmo is surrounded by flames with the word fuego written above him ALT: elmo is surrounded by flames with the word fuego written above him

new people in the Benito fandom, I WAS THERE WHEN THE SACRED TEXTS WERE WRITTEN, STAY OUT OF MY WAY

imagine this braindump from a wannabe millionaire yielding 12 hours worth of discussion, y'all are ridiculous

they refuse to do anything useful even when bored!

men are so fucking boring

Pretty In Pink Inside the community of nail artists telling ICE to get fucked.

Also last week, @nicolefroio.bsky.social delved into the history of feminine protest and the nail art aficionados telling ICE to get fucked:

working on my book proposal and it feels really good!!!!!!

“I have a permanent and inexplicable weakness for women with flowers in their hair.” —Audre Lorde

everyone stop being an evil piece of shit challenge oh my god

I’d suggest that leftists get a coherent political philosophy cause otherwise you end up being reactionaries

Saving The Life We Cannot See | NOEMA Conservation has traditionally ignored the planet’s smallest life forms. Microbiologists are trying to change that — before it’s too late.

Love love love this piece on microbiologists advocating for 'all the life we cannot see' because without those little dudes (the microbes, not the microbiologists) we'd be a dead planet!

The future of being trans on the internet The internet has long been a source of information and support for transgender people. Now, trans rights and the internet itself are in a moment of crisis. What happens next?

Congrats to the design team @theverge.com for their well-deserved ASME nom! The Verge is doing so much cool design pushing at the edges of what’s possible with digital publications (also, I’m in one of the editorial packages, ‘The Future of Being Trans on the Internet,’ in their nomination).

elmo is surrounded by flames with the word fuego written above him ALT: elmo is surrounded by flames with the word fuego written above him

new people in the Benito fandom, I WAS THERE WHEN THE SACRED TEXTS WERE WRITTEN, STAY OUT OF MY WAY

Sacred Shelves Two new books give Black bookstores the reverence they deserve.

First up, @freeblackgirl.bsky.social 's piece on Black-owned bookstores: 

"Black-owned bookstores have never existed merely to sell books; they’re community cornerstones committed to educating, empowering, and liberating Black communities."

The Future Is Fembot What does that mean for women?

Last week, we reprinted Dejan Jotanovic's The Future Is Fembot, originally published by Bitch Media, on the feminization of artificial intelligence and what it means for women: