Roughly two weekends ago, popular social networking service Reddit served as a hub to host leaked nude photographs and videos of various female celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence, Victoria Justice, Kate Upton, and Jessica Brown Findlay. Unsurprisingly, the content spread like wildfire and has since been redistributed on other social networking and image hosting sites.
Apparently, the racy content was originally procured by an individual — a gentleman and a scholar, surely — who hacked each woman’s iCloud account. Taking this into consideration, netizens are slightly more sympathetic to the victims than if, say, the pictures and videos were leaked by a scorned lover or accidentally uploaded by the women themselves to one of their personal social media accounts.
However, that is not to say that victim blaming isn’t alive and well. A commenter I had the pleasure of encountering on Facebook stated that he refuses to feel bad for the women because they were “guilty of engaging in sexual narcissism”.
In the words of the late Billy Mays, “But wait! THERE’S MORE!” This same commenter went on to say, “C’mon son…[Kate Upton] is one of the most beautiful women on Earth and she got nudes and REAAAALLLY think the world wont see?”
…really, my guy? First of all, the mention of “sexual narcissism” basically communicates to me that racy photos of women are A-OK when they’re taken and published with mass male consumption in mind, but they’re inherently bad if the woman takes them for herself and/or shares them on her own terms. Again, this media was illegally obtained by forcefully hacking into their accounts! This supposed “sexual narcissism” is not a justification for anybody’s rights to be impeded. Taking pleasure in your own appearance is not grounds for exploitation and abuse. These women being celebrities doesn’t make it any more acceptable to distribute this media, either. So, yeah, it’s entirely plausible that Kate and the other victims REAAAALLLY thought the world wouldn’t see. Because, quite frankly, the world has no business seeing unless they say we can.
Luckily, these individuals have money and access to credible legal teams that can get them proper compensation; many others are not afforded that privilege. Just…be a decent human being, please. Don’t share or leak nudes.
Unruly Bodies 
It’s terrifying to think someone can pull up things that have been “deleted” or break into computer systems and publish something embarrassing or extremely personal. There is no such thing as privacy with all the technology there is these days. I can’t even think about ever running for a political position because some jerk could use my old xanga against me. LOL! And because not everyone is a decent human being, we have to protect ourselves and be aware of the pictures we take and the things we say through text, instagram, etc. It’s crazy!
Great post!
-Mae
It’s one thing to be conscious of what you put out into the world, but really, who has the time and the effort to micromanage every little thing they post just because some jackass feels entitled to use your content against you? I’m also amused by the fact that the same geeks who loathe how the government spies on us had no moral issue with looking at these pictures and videos (and begging for more!) — go figure. Thanks for you comment, Mae! Uncover that old Xanga page for a good laugh, LMAO.
Well said!!! I just got into an argument with a (male) friend about this. He was saying “Well, they shouldn’t have them on their computers, you know people are going to hack that shit.” I am pained by people trying to justify this incident.
Yeah, just like how banks shouldn’t hold money because, despite the fact that there are numerous security precautions taken to keep peoples’ money safe, all somebody is gonna do is come along and rob them, right?! I’m glad we’re in agreement that this brand of logic is ridiculous, haha. Thanks for your comment!