Last week, Los Angeles-based artist Cali Rockowitz discovered an interesting mesh in Bumble’s shirt regulations. After she blocked her numerous attempts to upload photos in a bralette, the company told her that her clothing would only be allowed if she posed in it outside, and if it was a plausible bikini.
Buzzfeed, who posted pictures and went back and forth with Bumble reruns, reported that Rockowitz uploaded an Instagram friendly first portrait in sweatpants paired with a simple black bralette, set in a sun-drenched art studio for a canvas. On December 9, the company sent out a standard message explaining that underwear is not allowed on the platform. After another attempt with an alternate image from the same shoot, in which her hair largely covered the bralette, a representative told her she “absolutely can have a bikini or shirtless photo”, but only in the plein aire. “When you’re indoors, it looks too much like underwear,” they wrote. After Rockowitz posted on her Instagram stories about the ordeal, Bumble deleted another month-old photo of her a blazer and pants, with a bralette to replace the shirt.
Bumble does not explicitly describe the rationale are guidelines, but the in-house rule is part of Bumble’s 2016 Statutes written around bathroom selfies, an attempt to rise above Tinder.
“In 2016, we banned shirtless bathroom mirror selfies in response to feedback from our Bumble community,” a representative wrote in a statement to Gizmodo, adding that “our research found that profiles with those kinds of photos were wiped out the most.” (Alreadywipe is the bad one.) Bumble added that the policy applies to all genders.
“Swimsuit photos are acceptable when you are out by the pool or on the beach, as you are in a natural environment to wear a swimsuit,” the rep continued. In other words, you can only show your sternum if your intention is pure.
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Edit Rockowitzed the photo with bralette and suit so that she appeared to be front of the Pyramids of Giza and Mount Rushmore, but Bumble stayed in place and further noted that they could discover the deception.
“That photo was photoshopped, it wasn’t originally taken outside,” a rep told her about DM.
It seems unlikely that Bumble would be eager to open the floodgates to less chaste imageslike platforms have spent years trying to get their tits and nipples complicated context. Bumble has put his reputation on the line as the SFW app, and last year, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd supported a Texas policy that prohibited unsolicited dick photos (“lewd” photos).
Gizmodo has reached out to Rockowitz for comment and will update the post if we hear anything.