Here’s Why Women From Around The World Are Sharing Black & White Images On Social Media

If you are present on any kind of social media platform, especially Instagram or Twitter, chances are that you have seen black and white pictures of women with the hashtag ‘challenge accepted’.

A few days into this new ‘trend’, it’s clear how things work. A woman shares a black and white picture of herself, along with this hashtag, further nominating some other women to take up the ‘challenge’.

But what is the reason behind this?

Well, there are certain theories. 

Authorities from Instagram told The New York Times that the earliest photo of this wave of ‘challenge accepted’ is this one by Brazilian journalist Ana Paula Padrão, which carries the hashtag ‘women supporting women’.

Which doesn’t give any clear indication about the motive behind the hashtag or the post. However, later it was found out that the challenge has a connection with the Turkish femicide, which has lead to murders of hundreds, potentially thousands, of women across the country. 

This was pointed out by Instagram user cherbrat, who further credited American University Turkish Cultural Club for bringing this into light. 

Her post mentions that Turkey recorded 500 cases of femicide in 2019 and elaborates on the lack of judicial help in this matter. 

Also, as per the post, most murderers get away with a slap on the wrist and absolutely no charges at all.

And the idea behind sharing black and white photos was to remember women the country has lost, women whose colourless pictures people see frequently in this nightmarish scenario.

Now, there are reports which say that the challenge did not, in fact, originate in Turkey. it was in the US. However, the conflicting nature of the narrative doesn’t take away from the fact that the situation there needs immediate attention and if this challenge helps in achieving that, there is absolutely no harm in it.

It has also been suggested that the powerful and iconic speech of US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez led to a rise in numbers of these posts, which encourage women to stand tall and brave against injustice.

So, from what it appears, these posts are about perpetuating feelings of mutual admiration and respect in women, while paying a tribute to those who lost their lives to violence.

For this reason, they are often accompanied with other hashtags, but mainly: ‘Women supporting women’.

The idea here is to promote unity among women, as also pointed out by an Instagram spokesperson who, in a conversation with The New York Times, said:

Now, amid the growing speculation regarding the origin of this ‘challenge’, there has also been some criticism coming its way.

The topmost being, convenience. Many Twitter users have pointed out how sharing a photo doesn’t solve any real problem, many of which require utmost attention right now. 

It has also been said that the challenge, with 5.3 million posts on Instagram at this point, is clogging up social media and stopping the flow of crucial information on topics like racial injustice and other forms of discrimination. 

Finally, unlike some preconceived notions, the ‘challenge accepted’ hashtag isn’t new. It has been doing rounds on the internet for a few years now, with a different but mostly connected motive.

Earlier in 2016, it was started to raise awareness about breast cancer and has now evolved into a tool for talking about topics like bonding among women and intolerance towards injustice.