Trans singer Ethel Cain made the radical choice to post a semi-nude photo on social media, and she’s receiving love and hate in equal measure for the decision.
Cain, who came out as transgender when she was 20, posted a carousel on Instagram of beautifully shot images by photographer Dollie Kyarn, including two photos of Cain wearing a corset with nothing covering the lower half of her body.
The artistic photographs, posted the day after Trans Day of Visibility, have been given a "sensitive content" warning by Instagram, but have been left up on the social media site, despite showing Cain's genitalia while she stares into the camera.
At a time when trans bodies are being policed like never before, and politicians are doing everything in their power to strip transgender people of their rights, it feels refreshingly liberating to show the full breadth of the same kind of trans body the Republican Party is trying to criminalize.
The photos are not overtly sexual, instead they lean into femininity, with a floral bedspread and draped curtains in the background. Other photos in the carousel show Cain in the same corset, but also wearing tight white shorts.
While Elon Musk’s social media platform X is full of people making crude transphobic comments about Cain’s decision to show off her body, the “American Teenager” singer’s comment section under the post is filled with people applauding her brave choice.
“I’m just replying again to say that in today’s political climate, this was the most radical middle finger to the system. You could never make me hate her,” one person wrote.
“mother said transgender day visibility imma be VISIBLE,” someone else commented.
"Downright iconic. I hope this doesn’t get taken down. She’s a real one for this,” another person said.
However you feel about Cain’s music or her controversial history, posting these nude photos was a bold choice that stops anyone viewing them from ignoring her trans identity.
