When it comes to The New Yorker's cartoons, everyone is a critic. Even, it seems, Facebook. In fact the social network was recently so offended by some itty bitty nipples in a recent Mick Stevens cartoon uploaded by the magazine that it went and temporarily shut down their page! Which means we can finally use the word "nipplegate" and not talk about Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and pasties! Though we guess we understand where Mark Zuckerberg's censors are coming from: those cartoon lady bits are titillating!
Basically it turns out that among Facebook's many rules, cartoon private parts, "including female nipple bulges," are verboten (though male nipples? No problemo!). And so Mick Stevens cartoon was deemed offensive by the social network.
Stevens did try and redraw the cartoon with with some clothes added but that didn't really do the trick. So in the end The New Yorker just dropped the issue and moved on—but not without mocking the puritans at Facebook a bit first. Because really? Nipples: We've all got them (some of us even have a few extra!).
