A few days ago I read a number of news articles stating dozens of female celebrities’ personal cloud services were hacked and nude photos of them were stolen and posted online for the world to see. I wasn’t surprised that this is possible, or even that it happened, given the level of technology out there today. And at first, I had a moderate amount of curiosity; I’ll be honest. Jennifer Lawrence is pretty smokin’ hot, and I wanted to see if her private life was as awesome as her public life…maybe? Maybe it was just the voyeur in me.
I didn’t look, though, and I’m glad I didn’t. I’m sure it would’ve been as easy as a simple Google search, or a quick Reddit browsing. I read through hundreds of comments online and found myself becoming frustrated with the level of disgust some people had that people take nude photos, the level of nonchalance others had that privacy was violated, and the level of perversity some others had as they deemed the event “The Fappening” and openly admitted to masturbating right then and there. The most common comment I read was along the lines of, “If celebrities don’t want nude photos of them on the internet, they shouldn’t take nude photos.” Even other celebrities promoted this kind of thinking:
“Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer.”
– Ricky Gervais
What I find lacking in those kinds of statements is proper responsibility. Any and every person has the right to privacy regarding anything they want. Celebrities may give up a lot of privacy when it comes to where they grocery shop, where they buy their morning coffee, who they work out with, and even who they date, but I don’t think that line of privacy extends into their sexual life, nor does it mean the general population gets to see their naked bodies unless they want us to.
I think we get confused sometimes when it comes to celebrities. We watch their movies, we see them bare emotions and act out lives. We watch them in interviews and pretend we have a relationship of some kind with them. Their job is to entertain us. Their very existence in that role invites us to seek out more and more of their private lives.
There are celebrities (and non-celebrities) who earn money to pose naked for magazines, TV shows, and movies. They make the choice to put their whole bodies out there for our entertainment. They are comfortable with that level of exposure and enjoy it, along with the compensation they get out of it. They choose what images and clips are put out into the world; they choose which body parts are shown.
And there are celebrities who are not comfortable sharing their WHOLE bodies with the public. Or even not comfortable sharing certain parts. How is this any different than a regular Joe down the street making the same choices?
I have the freedom to take sexy photos of myself for my husband and really anyone I want to share myself with. Photography and cinematography can be a wonderful way to express thought and incite action on a personal level. If I were to ever take private photos of myself, there are certain protections I would make use of, for example, cloud services which promise privacy, or my own personal hard drives paired with virus protection.
If I take action to maintain the privacy of my images, is it my fault if another individual violates the law and that privacy to steal and share the images?
An old grandma is walking in a parking lot to her car at 10:00 PM from an trip to the grocery store. She is mugged, and people say how terrible it is, but that she shouldn’t have been out so late. The blame is taken from the mugger.
A woman is being dropped off at home from a blind date where they went dancing. The whole night she felt fantastic about how she looked at the club, and they had a good time. She tells him goodnight but he wants more. She is guilted into letting him upstairs where he forces her to have sex on her couch. If she tells anyone, they will only tell her she dressed too sexy and how could she have expected anything else? The blame is taken from the rapist.
Jennifer Lawrence takes some sexy photos with her boyfriend and stores them in iCloud, which is protected with a password and supposedly backed up by the almighty Apple. She feels great about how she looks, and enjoys sharing this part of herself with a few people. Some stranger spends hours and thousands of dollars hacking into her private photo albums, and shows the world her naked body. People tell her it’s her fault her body is now public; she asked for it. The blame is taken away from thief.
Lena Dunham said it perfectly on Twitter:
“The way in which you share your body must be a CHOICE. Support these women and do not look at these pictures. Remember, when you look at these pictures you are violating these women again and again. It’s not okay. Seriously, do not forget that the person who stole these pictures and leaked them is not a hacker: they’re a sex offender.”
– Lena Dunham
If I had naked pictures of myself in my dresser, and some guy came in and stole them, looked at them every day, and shared them with his friends, he would be violating my privacy and would be considered a sex offender. If I walked naked in my house which has locked doors and closed windows, and someone took video of it to share online, they would be violating my privacy.
I have a body, I have naked, sexy bits. They exist. They really do. Sometimes I may share them with other people of my choice in the manner of my choice. Why is this a crime? Why does this mean I should be forced to share them with EVERYONE? Why does this mean I should share the blame with someone who steals and exploits me?
Why is there a disconnect here when it comes to celebrities being naked and their privacy? Do they not have any rights at all for being famous? Why do people insist on blaming the victims when it comes to sexual offenses? Why is it always assumed that if a naked photo exists, it is up for grabs? Do we assume this when we take innocent pictures of our babies we want to keep private? What if someone hacked into your iCloud and stole all your private baby photos–the ones you’ve been keeping off the internet to protect your child’s privacy–and posted them all over the internet for baby lovers to oggle and get off to?
And do we realize that every time we look at a photo or video that wasn’t intended to be shared with us, we are violating another human? Would that person be okay with us looking at it if they knew? That’s the question we need to ask ourselves, I think. There are all sorts of levels of acceptance in the world when it comes to nakedness, sex, and the public. It’s not for everyone to do, and it’s not everyone’s favorite to look at. It may be something you think is wrong to participate in, and you may think it is bad for society. But there are adults out here who think the only lines to draw are how old you are, if you consent, and who you want to see it. Just because you are on the other side of the spectrum (or somewhere in between) does that mean another person’s boundaries don’t matter?