Oscar Wilde’s Salome: A Tragedy in One Act, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley was censored when it was first published in French in 1892.  It wasn’t until 1907 that it was republished with all the illustrations now uncensored.  Because of the nudity and sexuality depicted in the illustrations, the play was viewed as inappropriate during the fin de siècle.  Now, we know Salome to be progressive; a work that was ahead of its time and provided great commentary on female sexuality and the male gaze.  Beardsley illustrates from the perspective of the male gaze by featuring Salome in almost complete nudity throughout multiple images.  In images where Salome’s nude body is not on display, Beardsley uses other artistic elements to direct attention towards her.  I think more and more, women are being encouraged to do whatever makes them feel powerful and sexy, whether that be to display their bodies freely or cover-up as they see fit.  There has been a recent movement on Instagram where images of plus-sized bodies – specifically plus-sized BIPOC – displaying female nudity have been censored and removed from the platform.  This is extremely controversial and down-right wrong because every day we see nude images of women who are “socially acceptable” sizes.  Many of these images are praised for beauty and admired for taking back control of the narrative of their bodies when plus-sized women continue to be censored for promoting the same message.  Gender relations and sexuality have come a long way since the 1890s, but not enough.