Well beyond the breach of privacy, the leaked nude photos of several female celebrities is an act of sexual violence. We ask ourselves, have we gone overboard with our Internet freedoms?
Glancing and scrolling through the Internet the other night, I came across something that made me sick to my stomach. A local website tweeted a “cute” and (maybe to them) “helpful” article about taking care of one’s body in light of “leaked” nude photos of several actresses. While the tweet plugging the article itself is enough to ban the writers from ever typing another word again, it’s the mindset of the writer and to a certain extent society that’s doing the most damage. Almost instantly since the photos were uploaded online, it became a pop-culture obsession, a water cooler discussion of something they saw online. Is it really just the typical entertainment fodder? Yet another Hollywood scandal? Quite frankly, no, it’s none of those things. The release of the photos was in so many ways a criminal offense and reveals a growing and perpetuating misogyny on the Internet.
It should be stated that the photos themselves aren’t the issue. Pictures of scantily clad women are all over the Internet. So many blogs and publications shoot women completely nude. I, myself, work for a men’s magazine and have been involved in these kinds of shoots. Unlike these particular shoots and pictorials, the recent photos were never meant for public consumption. The women who took these photos did not consent to others seeing the images and blasting them all across the web. These were private photos that were stolen without any consideration to these women. There is no reason to blame the women for taking the photos and every blame and punishment should go to those who not only hacked but also stole and took advantage of these women.
Hacking and obtaining the photos were point blank theft. As Scott Mendelson via Forbes.com wrote, “I sincerely hope that absolutely none of the victims involved in this current leak apologizes or takes any form of ‘responsibility’ or apologizes for anything. The victims involved have committed no crime and committed no sin by creating said photos in the first place or in ‘allowing’ them to be stolen. What occurred yesterday is a theft and a crime, plain and simple.” He goes further to say that this incident with the nude photos shouldn’t be considered a celebrity sex scandal and I agree. This was some sad pervert/perverts who took the time to hack into the private and personal accounts of women and stole from them their most intimate possessions. These are thieves of the worst kind, the ones that steal not only a person’s material worth but something more valuable. In an article over at Esquire.com, Luke O’Neil wrote, “There’s something different about looking at images that were not intended for our consumption that separates them from the run-of-the-mill feelings of titillation we experience when looking at professional pornography. It feels like we’ve stolen a piece of the woman’s soul.”
More than theft, others have been more blunt in condemning these stolen photos as another form of rape as it basically took advantage of these women against their will, knowledge and consent. These deviants treated the women as nothing more than objects, leaving behind all forms of respect and human decency. It’s impossible to fathom any reasonable cause for why random strangers would steal private and intimate photos of women and share them online. The sad part is that this isn’t the first time this has happened but what made this worse and received far more notoriety is the amount of women these “hackers” victimized. Regardless of their celebrity, this was an attack on their worth and rights not only as women but as human beings. Add to that the widespread sharing and consumption of these photos, and it shows a society that approves of this twisted form of abuse, rather than condemns it.
Even if the Internet is several decades old, it looks like its mindset is that of a sad, sick teenager who still sees women as nothing more than sexual objects. Maturity is often lost online and the release and subsequent spreading of these pictures is not the first time women have been treated like this on the web. Just less than two weeks ago, another controversy erupted when an ex-boyfriend verbally assaulted a female game developer and insulted her in the most sexist ways imaginable. The controversy in question started when the clearly unstable ex-boyfriend of game developer Zoe Quinn aired out dirty laundry and seemingly accused Quinn of giving sexual favors for positive press about her video game. It is akin to what the fictional Mark Zuckerberg did to Erica Albright in the opening scenes of The Social Network only taken to far more despicable levels. Instead of outright and complete support against the ex-boyfriend, the majority of the Internet went out and attacked Quinn not as a game developer but as a woman. These anonymous males, hidden behind the safety and comfort of online pseudonyms, bashed and slut-shamed Quinn even if they’d never met her or knew her before the heartbroken vitriol was aired. Again, this incident is a far too frequent occurrence online where women are victimized by male sexists who more often than not will never face justice.
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In a recent interview, journalist Fareed Zakaria talked about the darker side of technology and how it has democratized violence and evil. He related it to the easy access of obtaining illegal firearms but it also relates to harassment and online sexual abuse. Technology has allowed easier access for certain people to take advantage of others. It allows those who are fluent in technology to use it against and to the detriment of innocents everywhere. The current state of technology is often more advantageous to those who seek to do harm anonymously and less helpful in protecting one’s safety and privacy. The problem is there is no balance between technology’s progress and its responsibility. And it’s a problem that’s getting worse.
We may live in a world that has evolved from how we were in the ’50s and ’60s but it seems that the sexism and prejudice back then never really died but only went online where it has grown far greater and a lot worse. The Internet and social media has given birth to a far more dangerous form of inequality and abuse, a metaphorical hydra with multiple heads and no single face. More than mythological beasts, this dark side of the Internet is more like Ku Klux Klan 2.0 — a group that, instead of white hoods, hides behind usernames and preys on those they deem inferior. They do not really care for progress but choose to go back to a darker time when not all men and women were treated as equals. These latest acts against women show a danger and a way of thinking that’s growing online.
The first step in fixing this issue is to begin with ourselves. Let’s not promote these kinds of acts in our culture by sharing the photos with our friends or talking about it like it was just some regular Hollywood news. Let’s not stoop down to the level of those anonymous hackers. Let’s not stoop down to levels of sexism and misogyny. We need to defend women and anyone else who is threatened and attacked. We need to uphold basic human rights and prevent any form of prejudice. We’ve developed so much that we can’t afford to be ignorant or apathetic anymore. The world is in danger of darkness and we need to help in making it a little brighter.
One doesn’t need to be a feminist to see just how wrong stealing and spreading those photos are. It’s not that they were celebrities that make this a pressing matter but more the fact that these kinds of attacks on women are becoming more and more prevalent. The debate shouldn’t be whether or not the celebrities should have taken those photos in the first place. It should be about dealing with a culture and society that leans towards favoring male abusers more than protecting female victims. This isn’t a pop culture scandal to be joked about and relegated to gossip columns and style blogs. It is a growing danger that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.