In recent days and weeks, a number of female celebrities have had their phones hacked, which has resulted in private nude pictures of them being plastered far and wide across the Internet.
Targets of these illegal and invasive hackings include Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Almost as soon as the photographs were posted, the photos and related gossip spread alarmingly quickly online. Popular opinion regarding these phone hackings, which regards the invasion of these celebrities’ privacy as a “scandal,” is frankly disgraceful.
The intentional, malicious hacking of any person’s phone and distribution of their private content is a crime and a form of sexual harassment, not a scandal or a juicy piece of shocking celebrity gossip.
The celebrities in these nude photos did not bring this upon themselves. When gossip websites and TV shows refer to these leaks as part of a “scandal,” it implies that these women consensually shared their photos on the Internet, which is clearly false.
It implies that the victims of these actions have done something distasteful and should apologize for their own actions as celebrities have done for leaked nude photos in the past. But no matter what your opinion is on individuals taking and sharing nude photographs, the appearance of these photos on the Internet is not the fault of the women who had their privacy and sexual activity violated.
In modern America’s rape culture, which has infected the way we see issues of assault and abuse, there is a terrifying expectation that women, and people in general, are responsible for protecting themselves from abuse.
The focus has largely shifted away from creating pressure not to abuse others in the first place.
Viewing invasion of sexual privacy in this backward manner, women who take nude photographs are supposedly opening themselves up to be exploited. This is a misogynistic and distasteful way to view this harassment. Victims are never to blame for the crimes committed against them.
The celebrities in these photographs are entitled to engage in any kind of consensual sexual activity they choose, as is any person. This goes for the celebrities victimized now and any individual who has had his or her private photos leaked in the past.
The hacker who violated the privacy of these celebrities publicized an intimate activity between these women and their significant others. These personal and private moments were shamefully twisted into a public gossip spectacle.
Anyone who seeks out, views or shares these photos is complicit in the crime against these women by violating their privacy. Whether people search for these photos in order to humiliate and ridicule, or because they think these women are attractive, they are perpetuating the victimization of these innocent women.
It is not acceptable to disregard a woman’s privacy because you think she’s sexy. Just as with instances of catcalling or street harassment, women’s bodies are not items for public ownership, and objectifying them even with supposedly “positive” connotations is not OK.
I am sorry for the pain and humiliation being experienced by the female celebrities who have had their privacy violated. In today’s age of technology, the involuntary disclosure and publicizing of sexual activity is becoming increasingly common, especially with young, mostly college-age women. As a female college student, I can only hope that these disgusting crimes will make more people realize that stealing and sharing the personal photographs of others is an abhorrent and unacceptable crime. These invasions of privacy amount to a form of sexual harassment and should be treated as such.
Sally Greider is a UF English and public relations sophomore. Her columns usually appear on Tuesdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 9/3/2014 under the headline "Celebrity phone hacking, photo leak is not a ‘scandal’"]
