Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Moms Outraged After Shirtless Beach Photos Of Their Long-Haired Sons Keep Getting Taken Down By Instagram

Moms Outraged After Shirtless Beach Photos Of Their Long-Haired Sons Keep Getting Taken Down By Instagram
@ruler.and.oak/Instagram

Why is Instagram sexualizing children in the first place?

A bunch of moms are calling out Instagram after the site keeps taking down photos of their sons shirtless at the beach, something that is in no way a violation of Instagram's rules.


"We're at the beach all the time. He, like, never wears a shirt," Tori Spooner, mother of Parker, one of Instagram's targets, said to Buzzfeed News.

The boys are all very different except for one characteristic: they all have long hair.

The moms of the boys found that their posts were removed, and in some cases, the moms were even banned from Facebook or Instagram for days on end.

Tori Spooner said:

"They sent it and said it was sexual and we weren't allowed to have it. It was pretty much just a warning."

Finally, Instagram kept taking down the photos in such large volumes that they automatically deleted Ms. Spooner's account, wiping out years worth of photos.


Many think the problem goes deeper than a simple case of mistaken identity.



Spooner took matters into her own hands on Instagram and asked people to join her movement.

"Help us share this message to get @instagram attention! Who's with me?! Im tired of having Parkers shirtless pictures get deleted because IG think he's a girl for having long hair!"
"It's happened so many times that they will delete all my accounts if it happens again and I'll lose all my pictures. There is no way to contact them either."
"This happens to thousands of other little long haired boys too, not just us. There has to be a way to get @instagram attention. JOIN IN AND MAKE A SIGN and tag #longhairedboyrevolution"

Soon, #longhairedboyrevolution began to catch on across the platform.








Instagram later told Buzzfeed News that they'd made an error.

"This post was taken down in error and we are sorry for the mistake. We err on the side of protecting children and for safety reasons we remove some images that show nude or partially-nude children."
"Even when this content is shared with good intentions, it could be used by others in unanticipated ways."





Spooner said of the movement:

"I originally just started it kind of for us, but so many other people were commenting saying they'd make a sign too, and it started spreading."

But she says the movement itself is not enough – action is needed on Instagram's part.

"Find a solution so we're allowed to post our boys with long hair. Have somebody manually view them if they get flagged."

Or maybe stop sexualizing the chests of girls and women?

The chest is not a sex organ. Breasts are not genitals.

Instagram has not made any comment on whether or not it will update its policies.

The book Jacob's Room to Choose, available here, explores the idea of gender conformity in children for children.

*****

Listen to the first season of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!' where we explore the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.

Be sure to subscribe here and never miss an episode.

More from Trending

People Who Slept With Their Best Friend Describe The Aftermath

When two people have a deep and meaningful friendship, the question might eventually come up of whether or not they could be more. Agreeing that their friendship might deserve more, they might try to date or at least explore physical intimacy.

But crossing that line carries with it consequences, and it's only once the pair crosses that line that they'll find out if crossing it was good or bad.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Hope Walz and Laura Ingraham
@hopewalz/TikTok; Fox News

Hope Walz Perfectly Claps Back After Laura Ingraham Rips Her For Supporting Mamdani

Hope Walz, the daughter of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, responded brilliantly after Fox News personality Laura Ingraham attacked her for praising the mayoral primary victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City on TikTok, saying Ingraham spends her time "not caring about other people.”

Mamdani handily defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary last week, sparking racist and Islamophobic backlash from right-wingers who've claimed his policies would "destroy" the city.

Keep ReadingShow less
child writing on chalkboard
Leonardo Toshiro Okubo on Unsplash

Bilingual People Explain Which Words They're Surprised Don't Exist In English

According to one report, approximately 3.3 billion people worldwide—43 % of the population—are multilingual, meaning they speak at least two languages. According to the last Census, 21.6% of people in the United States speak more than one language, while in the United Kingdom, the number is 36%.

More multilingual people speak English as a second language than English speakers who have learned another language besides English. Worldwide, people who learned English as a first language rate among the lowest in multilingual rates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Garfield at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival
Harry Durrant/Getty Images

Andrew Garfield meets fan with wild tweet!

American actor Andrew Garfield had a funny yet awkward reunion with a fan from a viral “Thirst Tweet” featured on Buzzfeed Celeb.

The Thirst Tweet compilation shows celebrities reading a collection of scandalous tweets from fans commenting on their looks, attractiveness, and sex appeal. Blushing stars include James McAvoy, Renee Rapp, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Mackie, and more recently, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, as they promote F1 the Movie that was released in theaters last week.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @hotweirdgirl69's TikTok video
@hotweirdgirl69/TikTok

Women Record As Two Men Refuse To Leave Their Table At A Bar—And It's Infuriating

Content Warning: Sexual Harassment

"She deserved it." "She was asking for it." "She wasn't clear about her boundaries." "She didn't actually say 'no.'"

Keep ReadingShow less