Don't be a tit by flashing privates in public

When it comes to lady parts, I prefer them to stay that way - hidden.

So I won't be caught dead with mine on display, even when more women are fighting for their right to do just that.

But that's just me. It appears more and more female celebrities have no qualms with baring all - and by "bare", I mean no star- shaped pasties or strategically-placed arms, and certainly no bras.

This year's Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Fashion Icon award recipient Rihanna is a shining example, flashing her nipples in a sheer, Swarovski-studded "gown" when she received the honour on Monday.

Even her stylist Mel Ottenberg called it "so naked" and labelled himself "a prude just catching up".

The 26-year-old Barbadian singer - who has already been going braless in the past couple of months courtside at NBA games - certainly has no issues with her near-nakedness.

"Do my tits bother you? They're covered in Swarovski crystals!" she said at the event.

Or was it actually a very public statement in show of support for Scout Willis, now infamously known as the #FreeTheNipple campaigner?

After all, she had re-tweeted a Twitter post that suggests Willis was "protesting Rihanna's Instagram ban".

Willis, a recent Brown University graduate and daughter of Hollywood stars Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, made headlines when she walked around topless in New York last week - legal under state law but not on Instagram.

She had taken to Twitter to protest Instagram's "prejudiced" nudity guidelines.

The photo-sharing and social networking site had disabled Willis' account over "instances of abuse" after she posted photos of herself in a sheer top and of a handmade jacket with a photo of two topless friends emblazoned across the chest.

Similarly, Rihanna's Instagram account "mysteriously disappeared" last month after she posted topless photos from a shoot with Lui magazine.

In a post on xojane.com, Willis, 22, argued that it is "a woman's right to choose how she represents her body - and to make that choice based on personal desire and not a fear of how people will react to her or how society will judge her".

In response, a spokesman for Instagram said that the site tries to strike a "balance between allowing people to express themselves creatively and keeping Instagram a fun and safe place".

"Instagram does not allow users to post "violent, nude, partially nude... pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content via the service," he said.

DOUBLE STANDARDS?

But wait. Selena Gomez's sheer curtain-concealed bare-bodied snap, Nicki Minaj's bum-in-your-face video and Rihanna's numerous photos in various states of undress before she lost her account have all made the cut.

Last I checked, they were provocative and left little to the imagination.

But the moment exposed nipples are involved - even in breastfeeding or mastectomy tattoo snaps - they're considered taboo and overly revealing.

Double standards, anyone?

What is it with nipples that make people squirm?

Don't get me wrong, this is not a call for anyone to turn into serial areola-flashers.

I personally do not appreciate being forced to stare at strangers' privates on my Instagram feed.

If you want to share an intimate breastfeeding moment with friends, I say bare away.

But for online exhibitionists merely looking to chalk up "likes" or posing obscenely just to appear hot and sexy, allow me to direct you to the nearest lingerie store.

Some things are just better left covered.

This article was first published on June 5, 2014.
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