B.C. trangender woman challenges social media censorship with topless photos

A transgender woman from Victoria, B.C. is testing the boundariesof social media censorshipwith a photo experiment showing topless photos of her transition.

Courtney Demonehas only been on hormone replacement therapy for the past several months andher breasts haven't fully developed yet so she's been able to share topless photos of herself on social media.

But, by next year, she'll have developedherfemale physiqueand she's waiting to see when her body will be"sexualised enough" to be censored.

Her online experimentdocumenting her transition toplesswill push theboundaries of companies, like Facebook and Instagram, whichonly allowphotos of men'sexposednipples.

Demone wants her projectto become a "conversation starter" about the double standard women face in society.

"I just want people to start thinking about gender privilege about how society treats women and men differently and I think this is a cool way to start that conversation," said Demone.

The writer has been sharingher journey on a weekly basis online both in printwith fellow co-author Cynthia Williams and through visuals using the tags#DoIHaveBoobsNow and#FreeAllBodies.

In an interview with CBC, she recalled howembracingher femininity has led to unwelcome attention.She felt the"privileges" she onceheld as amanstart to erode.

"As a woman I get harassed on the street a lot more ... there's a lot more people willing to comment on my appearance and make suggestions towards my appearance," said Demone. "That didn't really happen when I was read as a man."

Celebrities likeMileyCyrus, andmodelsCaraDelevigne and Chrissy Teigenhaveroutinelyspoken out about the double standard when it comes women's bodies throughthe online campaign#freethenipple.

Demone, though, wantsto take that a step further and open the discussionto women and transgender men who don't have astereotypicalfemalebody.

AsDemone'sproject picks up steam, she knows she willstimulate more conversation but remainscautiouslyoptimistic about changing the landscape of social media.

"It would be cool if changes to Facebook and Instagram's policies happen but I don't have any illusions thatwe're going to be big enough to actually poke the bear in that situation."