Jennifer Lawrence. McKayla Maroney. Kate Upton. Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Kirsten Dunst. These are just some of the names of the victims of the celebrity nude photo scandal that broke last week.
That’s right, I said victims. These women are victims of sexual violence, and, the last time I checked, it is highly taboo to blame a victim of a sex crime. So, what’s the difference between having private photos of yourself released for the entire world to see?
Many people have been taking to the media, shaming these women for taking naked photos of themselves and saying that they should not have taken the photos in the first place if they didn’t want them publicly released.
To put it bluntly, that is a stupid, antiquated manner of thinking. Just like you cannot blame a rape victim for what she wears, you cannot blame these women for taking naked photos of themselves and being deliberately attacked and stripped of their privacy.
Apparently, when people were outraged at the idea that the National Security Agency was violating Americans’ rights to privacy, the unspoken agreement was that the privacy of women was not included. These victims’ reason(s) for taking the photos do not matter, nor are they anyone’s business, but obviously, it comes down to a woman being comfortable enough in her own skin that she is willing to celebrate her body. For that, no one should be ashamed.
Just as a man who forces a woman to have sex with him is a rapist, the 4chan hacker who took the time to target specific, powerful women in the media and release their private photos is a sex offender. There is no difference between him and your regular, run-of-the-mill voyeur who takes photos up women’s skirts and peers into their windows late at night.
People who share naked photos, whether they’re of a celebrity they just hacked, an ex girlfriend, or just some girl they don’t even really know, are preying upon women when they are at their most vulnerable. We live in a world where the sexualization of women is more than just commonplace—it is expected. With apps like Snapsaver, which allows the recipients of your photos save them undetected (yes, that’s very much a thing), the ability to fully humiliate someone and invade her privacy is becoming more common.
While my opinions of pornography can be saved for another article, I will say this: the fact is, there are millions, if not billions, of photos and videos of consenting, naked women out there, much of which is free. So why do people still insist on invading the privacy and ruining the lives of non-consenting women, and why are these actions illegal in only twelve states?
The answer appears to be that, no matter what the circumstances, there is a universal belief that women, and only women, are obliged to be anybody’s personal porn outlet, even if they do not want to be. Even if it mars her reputation and forever changes the way her family, friends, and strangers look at her. Even if it changes the way she looks and feels about herself.
Think about that when you’re staring at naked photos of an underage Olympic gymnast.
