Man sues Facebook over a painting of a vagina

Facebook’s strict no-nudity policy has been a hot topic in recent years – sparking protests, campaigns and even fully-fledged movements (see the now global “Free The Nipple”). It’s a set of limitations that has often been exposed as frustratingly hypocritical: highlighting the way we assess and perceive gender, and repeatedly blurring the boundaries of art and porn.

One man struck by these stringent rules was Frederic Durand-Baissas. After posting a picture of Gustave Courbet’s ‘L'Origine du monde’ painting on his profile back in 2011, the 57-year old Parisian teacher was left with his account suspended. After challenging the ruling in French court, however, he has now managed to secure $22,550 in damages and the reactivation of his account.

“This is a case of free speech and censorship on a social network,” Durand-Baissas told The Associated Press after the lengthy five year case came to an end on Friday. “If (Facebook) can't see the difference between an artistic masterpiece and a pornographic image, we in France can.”

‘L’Origine Du Monde’, painted in 1886, is one of the world’s most controversial paintings, featuring a faceless woman’s exposed vagina. It is currently on display in Paris’s Musée d'Orsay.

“This is a great satisfaction and a great victory after five years of legal action," added Durand-Baissas’ lawyer Stephane Cottineau. “On one hand, Facebook shows a total permissiveness regarding violence and ideas conveyed on the social network. And on the other hand, it shows an extreme prudishness regarding the body and nudity. Web giants... will have now to answer for their possible faults in French courts.”

The news comes shortly after Facebook placed another ban on the way less offensive “Ice Cream” by Evelyne Axwell. According to a post on the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Facebook account, the 1964 painting was deleted for being too “suggestive”, and “containing excessive amounts of skin or suggestive content.”

The museum updated the post with some incredulity. “Axell sought to depict active, confident women who pursue satisfaction on their own terms – such as the protagonist of “Ice Cream”, who unabashedly enjoys her dessert,” they wrote. “Axell’s provocative paintings challenge artistic conventions while also exhibiting a liberated, playful spirit characteristic of the sexual revolution of the 1960s.”