Naturist faces furious backlash after posting picture of herself covered in 'menstrual blood'
A Swedish blogger has divided opinion online after sharing a photo of her face and breasts smeared in period blood.
Maxinne Björk, who currently resides in Bali, is well known for her controversial posts on Instagram.
A self-proclaimed "naturist" and "yogi", the majority of the images on Björk's feature nudity, and she speaks candidly about topics such as masturbation, feminism and spirituality.
One of her most recent posts, however, has caused a furore amongst her 48,000 followers.
Last week, the blogger chose to celebrate her womanhood by sharing a picture of her face and chest covered in menstrual blood.
"Today, after a very productive and super fun day, I just came home all emotional with lots on my mind that I just pushed aside ’cause I didn’t have space to deal with it in the moment," she wrote in the caption of the Instagram post.
"I sat down and did some deep breathing, and all of a sudden felt a strong urge to cover myself in my life-giving fluids as a woman. So without really thinking of why or anything else, I just did. Smudged it out all over my body and then rolled around naked on the grass in my garden all covered in my menstrual blood. Smelled the earth and started crying intensely. Both from happiness and sadness. After some crying I started laughing instead. I’m so happy to have my mum in my life, we both help each other to get through some rollercoasters. The family situation we are in right now is just very draining. But thats life. And exactly how it is suppose to be in this moment. Accept and love."
Naturally, Björk's post caused a stir with her followers - and the internet writ large - with some deeming the image "disturbing", while others believed it to be "empowering".
A number of Instagram users expressed concern for the blogger's mental health, with one writing "Everything described sounds a lot like a psychotic episode."
"Covering yourself in your fluids, rolling around in grass, crying and then laughing like a maniac is not empowering or inspirational, it’s disgusting and worrying," another added.
Björk addressed the contentious image the following day with a post where she urged people to "listen to their hearts and do what feels rights for them."
"So interesting how people can't accept that we all are different and have different views about life. Im not telling people to think like me, but with my actions I want to express to people to listen to their hearts, and do what feels right for them even though it doesn't fit the norm. And that's why I even use social media, I want to spread how I live, so people can be inspired to dare to live how they want to live. I'm not trying to change any one [...- be you! And bad comments that I'm mentally sick doesn't really affect me. Maybe I am? But oh my, how great it feels to be mentally disturbed then I love my life!"