Toronto-based artist Rupi Kaur posted a picture of herself on Instagram, fully clothed and with a blood stain. Menstrual blood. She was having her period, as almost half of the world’s population does every month. A very normal situation. But it seems like menstruation is still taboo: photo sharing app Instagram deleted the picture twice, claiming ‘it doesn’t follow their Community Guidelines.’

Kaur didn’t get it and certainly didn’t agree. The picture, created together with her sister for a school project, wasn’t violent, pornographic or discriminating. Quite the contrary: it was meant to show that periods are natural and nothing to be ashamed of.

‘Your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified pornified and treated less than human,’ she wrote on her Facebook page. ‘I bleed each month to help make humankind a possibility. my womb is home to the divine. A source of life for our species.’

Instagram (which has earlier removed pictures of women with nipples) has since restored the image and sent her an apology. Currently the picture has been liked more than 50.000 times and shared over 10.000 times. ‘Thank you @instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique,’ Kaur wrote.

For the whole series of more menstruation related pictures, visit Rupikaur.com.

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