Anti-heels campaigner Yumi Ishikawa wants to free her nipples

The feminist activist Yumi Ishikawa made headlines worldwide in 2019 with her #KuToo campaign against wearing high heels in workplaces.

The actor and model also simultaneously made a lot of enemies, especially among male trolls, and is frequently attacked online. Some call her a hypocrite, since when she was younger, she posed for full-frontal nude shoots as a model and did at least one nude scene as an actor. (Personally, we don’t see a problem here: you can do both feminist campaigning and sexually appealing modeling — the two are not mutually exclusive — and we all do things in our careers when we are younger and have less choice.)

The 35-year-old’s provocative actions perhaps don’t help quieten these online critics, like this amazing “funeral” shoot she staged for high heels — but in the buff.

Last week on her website, she published more eyebrow-raising pictures under the campaign title of #FreetheNipple — a reference to the international topfreedom campaign ongoing internationally since 2012. The tasteful nude shoot was done in collaboration with feminists working behind the camera and is a series of photos featuring Ishikawa with her breasts on display.

Why did she do this? It’s not just for clicks. Ishikawa notes that she was locked out of her own Instagram account when she posted the pictures, two of which we have included below.

Ishikawa says that a gravure DVD she made when she was 20 showed her nipples without her knowledge or consent and was sold commercially without her permission. The shock she had when she heard still resonates today. She eventually paid for a lawyer to stop sales of the DVD.

But this poses other questions. Why do we ascribe value (financial and sexual) to women’s nipples? A man with no top on is no biggie. But a gravure idol with no top on is big news. We associate that act with certain moral/societal values and financial/career gain. A man can go topless in a public park, even in somewhat conservative Tokyo, without many people being surprised. A woman, on the other hand, might be mobbed by guys trying to take pictures. Why is a woman not allowed to post a picture of her own nipples on Instagram?

Ishikawa is taking back control and reclaiming her body — nipples and all. All power to her.