Artist and student Rupi Kaur, 22, posted this picture on Instagram, which ended up violating the site's Community Guidelines. It was removed twice. After that, she decided to write an open latter.

The photo is part of a series by Kaur called "period" and it depicts the artist in bed, fully clothed, and on her period. She said that "she didn't post the photo to stir controversy, but because she was proud of it." On her website, she compares Instagram to the "communities and cultures [that] go out of their way to shun and oppress a woman on her period."

This is the picture in question in full:

After posting it, Instagram removed the photo, twice for violating the site's Community Guidelines.

Kaur then wrote this:

"thank you @instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique. you deleted a photo of a woman who is fully covered and menstruating stating that it goes against community guidelines when your guidelines outline that it is nothing but acceptable. the girl is fully clothed. the photo is mine. it is not attacking a certain group. nor is it spam. and because it does not break those guidelines i will repost it again. i will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak. when your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified. pornified. and treated less than human. thank you

"i bleed each month to help make humankind a possibility. my womb is home to the divine. a source of life for our species. whether i choose to create or not. but very few times it is seen that way. in older civilizations this blood was considered holy. in some it still is. but a majority of people. societies. and communities shun this natural process. some are more comfortable with the pornification of women. the sexualization of women. the violence and degradation of women than this. they cannot be bothered to express their disgust about all that. but will be angered and bothered by this. we menstruate and they see it as dirty. attention seeking. sick. a burden. as if this process is less natural than breathing. as if it is not a bridge between this universe and the last. as if this process is not love. [labor]. life. selfless and strikingly beautiful."

She posted it on Facebook after that, then receiving a message from Instagram indicating that the image was deleted twice, in error.

Here are a few more pictures from her photo series.

What do you think?