A popular Instagram fitness star has gotten her account reinstated after the social media app apparently banned her for a skin-baring workout video that she made while pregnant.
Personal trainer Brittany Perille Yobe is known on Instagram for her workout videos — where she often shows off her rock hard abs, according to Self. But when she recently posted one showing her pregnant belly, the account was reportedly disabled.
Yobe, who is due in February, was nervous at first about how people would react, according to Cosmopolitan magazine, but she received “overwhelming” positive feedback. “I have debated sharing this video of my big bare belly in full workout mode because of body shaming comments that I am sure will come,” she wrote on Instagram last week. “Ultimately, this wasn’t a great enough reason to keep me from sharing and empowering women to love their bodies through each stage of their fitness journeys. Six pack or big belly I still hustle.”
She was then shocked that Instagram took enough offense to shut down her account for not following community guidelines.
The guidelines, as described by Cosmo, say “We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples…” Yobe told Cosmo that she’s posted videos like this one before but that “there was nothing out of the ordinary in this one besides my bump.”
Since speaking out to Cosmo, and reportedly sending an appeal to Instagram, Brittany’s account has been reinstated.
“This mama to be WAS NOTgoing down without a fight,” Yobe posted after the reinstatement. Let’s hope Instagram doesn’t make this mistake again—there’s nothing wrong with pregnant women feeling confident in their bodies.”
