Goodbye Tumblr: The Death Of Adult Content on Tumblr

Starting on December 17th of 2018, Tumblr banned all adult content from its platform in order to harbor a "safe place for creative expression, self-discovery, and a deep sense of community."  This update was announced two weeks before it was to go into effect, and modified the day that it was to go into effect.  Despite the recent amendments and clarification provided to Tumblr's policy shifts, this still spells certain doom for many underrated porn blogs, spaces for body positivity, and educational resources that have previously flourished on Tumblr.  Many blogs that felt they were going to be affected by this change, and many that were as content was beginning to get flagged have already left the platform.  Since Tumblr first launched in 2007, it has been driven by its supportive community.  It has become a place that celebrates the freedoms of speech and expression, and a curated resource for all types of bodies, belonging to all types of people, at all walks of life.  That very way of life that Tumblr encouraged is now being threatened by the platform that allowed it to exist.

In their initial staff post about the upcoming changes, Tumblr's CEO, Jeff D'Onofrio, wrote that their goal was to continue to foster the type of environment in which "more people feel comfortable expressing themselves," but I am failing to see how these changes are intended to do anything remotely close to that.  Even in the amended staff post released the day these changes were set to take affect, Tumblr backed up that claim, although they continued to use language like "female presenting nipples," to explain what type of content would not be permitted on the platform, despite acknowledging how poorly it was received the first time around.

Furthermore, their attempt to exclude "female presenting nipples" from their site holds to incredibly sexist and misogynistic roots.  This is the very reason that movements such as Free the Nipple exist.  Other than how unfair it is for those that present as women that their bodies cannot be loved and celebrated in the same ways as the bodies belonging to people who present as men, this change to Tumblr's policy is also incredibly harmful for those that identify as transgender or non binary.  What can be considered as a "female presenting nipple?"  Are female presenting nipples only present on those who were born as female?  What about those who have undergone sex transitions?  If Tumblr is going to ban female presenting nipples, they need to make it abundantly clear what that means, and they're going to need to be careful about it.  To be fair, in the updated policy change, they did attempt to demonstrate what type of content was still allowed on their platform by providing photos and examples.  However, there are so many ways that nipples can be presented that it really is very difficult to develop a strong understanding of what is and isn't still allowed on their site.  It is way to easy in this case to come across and transphobic or sexist, especially in an era in which everyone is so much more sensitive to anything that could be perceived as offensive.  Frankly, Tumblr has opened up a can of worms that I am not sure they are ready to deal with yet.

In the past, Tumblr has been a place of safety, education, and community for those in the nonbinary community.  Tumblr has showcased unique body types in a way that no other platform has before, and in a way that celebrates diversity and educates those that have never felt right in their body.  As Serena Daniari put it in her blog titled What Tumblr Taught Me About My Trans Identity, "I was finally able to see women with penises, men with vaginas, and nonbinary people of all body types without the fetishistic lens that is so often placed upon us in erotic media."  Tumblr gave Serena a place to view individuals of all body types and learn that they were not alone in their experiences.  It became a place for them to explore their sexuality that was devoid of shame.  Serena also explained in that blog post that "Tumblr was a life-saving resource for me during nearly every stage of my transition."  Serena used Tumblr as a way to learn about the transition process in ways that their doctor was not able to educate them on.  Tumblr choosing to ban all adult content from it's platform gets rid of much of the material that supported Serena, and many other people who relied on Tumblr's close-knit community.

Moving on, Tumblr has also had significant issues with porn bots, or automatically generated accounts that produce adult content in the hopes of directing you towards paid, third party sites, and I think that's what a lot of people think of when they think about Tumblr's porn scene.  To be honest, that is the first thing I thought about when I heard of this policy change.  I was regularly followed on my original Tumblr account by these bots, despite the fact that I very rarely posted anything about sexuality on that blog.  So, while this is a great way to finally get rid of those bots, as it turns out, the porn scene on Tumblr is about a lot more than some automated bots.  It's about peoples' livelihoods, their lifestyles, and about building communities where individuality and sexuality are celebrated.

As Jeff D'Onofrio stated in his staff post, "There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content."  While that is true, there are no other sites that feature adult content in quite the same way that Tumblr does.  There are plenty of porn sites out there, including multiple feminist porn sites, but there are no sites that allow the same type of community that Tumblr allowed.  As media sites are concerned, Reddit still allows for adult content to be shared on its platform, but only under specific NSFW tags that can only be accessed by those 18 years or older.  While this provides a great place for some of the blogs that have been kicked off of Tumblr to go to, for the most part it completely misses the age range that is most affected by Tumblr's change of policy.  Everyone needs sexual health education, and everyone needs exposure to sex positive communities, but the age range that needs access to the types of material that Tumblr provided the most are those under the age of 18.  Teenagers are still in the early stages of developing in their sexuality, and it is absolutely crucial during that time period to provide comprehensive and sex positive resources for them to learn from.   The unhealthy practices that they learn during their early stages of development and the sex negativity that manifests in their young lives will stay with them forever and only provide another roadblock to living healtht lives.  As is, there are very few resources catered towards minor audiences that provide the type of education, comfort, and security that the blogs that have been forced out of Tumblr provided.  Taking those few educational resources away from those that really rely on them will only harm the development of the next generation.

For those that did only access Tumblr's adult content for a new and exciting type of porn, there are other places for you to go.  It's not quite the same; you can't search by hashtag, and often you will be left with a ratio of 80% plotline and 20% sexy time, but at least there's somewhere for you to go.  Xconfessions is a feminist porn site that is produced by Erika Bloom.  It features real sex scenes that are inspired by confessions that are sent in by their audience.  The performers are not just there for a paycheck; they are there because they really enjoy working in the adult entertainment industry.  Their needs are taken care of, and Bloom insures that every orgasm is natural; there are no faked cries of pleasure and retakes for the perfect cum shot.  The best part is that it is only $20 a month.  I know that not everyone will be able to manage that, but it really is important that you pay for your porn.  Free porn sites do not have as many resources to insure the safety of their performers and often have to cut corners that endanger their crew.

In the end, I do not support preventing access to any sex positive materials, nor do I support the prevention of sex education, and I certainly do not support the sex shame that the change in Tumblr's policy promotes.  I do not see how this change to their policy is going to help cultivate a more creative and diverse community.  As far as I'm concerned, removing all adult content from Tumblr only works to destroy what Tumblr has become the best known for; their sex positive and supportive community.  Thus, I have gotten rid of Tumblr.  If you have been here for a while, you might have noticed it's missing from my list of social media sites below.  I am on Reddit now, but I know that that platform might not be for everyone, and thus I will not encourage you to check it out.  Should you wish to give it a go though, I think you might find a community there that you really fit in with.  It in no way can replace the gaping hole that Tumblr has left, but it might still be able to provide a place of security for some.

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