What would you do if your own private nude photos were hacked and shared with the world?
One Danish student knew exactly what to do and has taken a bold and empowering approach when faced with this question she has exposed this growing problem in an entirely new way. In 2011, the student, Emma Holten found herself a victim of online hackers. After Emma’s personal email was compromised, hackers plundered a collection of her private nude photos and later shared those images on various platforms for thousands to view online. So what was Emma’s response? Emma’s response was to share more nude photos of herself online but not without reason. She then wrote an illuminating Essay entitled “Consent“. Why would she do this?
The essay touches upon the idea of a balance between accepting our bodies but respecting a person’s privacy. The fact is that a naked body shouldn’t cause the scandal but that her privacy was violated should. We live in a society where women are scared to show their body everyday and media affects the way we feel. She took a stand on body acceptance while taking back what was hers. Now she gets to choose the nude images of herself that will float around online. Her choice on how she wants to be portrayed and what she will look like.
Lately it’s come to our attention that we live in a time when leaked celebrity photos and hacked icloud accounts have become all-too-common. The concept of true online privacy, emerging technologies and our quest for more convenient ways to store and share information are constantly at odds with each other. This imbalance often results in victims being lost in the mix, being exploited due to security flaws or worse. In Emma’s essay “Consent”, she recounts her own feelings during the ordeal along with examining the attitude towards women who are exposed online without their consent or knowledge.
She examined why photos taken of women without their consent have been so popular, the dangers involved and what it means for the women who are exposed in this way. Early on she blamed her own body for causing the problem and questioned her own worth and identity as a human being after she was objectified against her will. Her main dilemma was how to overcome these feelings. She decided to share a variety of non-sexual nude photos of herself to illustrate she was in fact a real human being, doing human things even in the nude.
The idea is taking back what is yours. Jennifer Lawrence took a fight against her leaked nudes and now girls everywhere are as well. Being nude is not the problem but choosing when you want to be seen as so is. There shouldn’t be an argument that you shouldn’t be allowed to store your photos where you want because there is a chance that somebody will see them. There should be the fact that you shouldn’t be hacking people, objectifying them and sharing the images without consent from the person in the picture.
Read Emma Holten’s full Essay – http://www.hystericalfeminisms.com/consent/
