Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried have been the next victims in a long, long line of female celebrities to have nude or sexualized private photos of them released without their permission.
They have vowed to take legal action against the websites that published the photos, which they should absolutely do. They are not the first celebrity women to have this happen to them. Pictures of celebrities swimming nude in pools or privately sent to their boyfriends have been leaked a number of times in the past. Each time it happens, we hope that it is the last.
What does this say about us as a society?
She is another women fighting for her privacy
The fight for privacy over our own bodies is an eternal fight for women. We trust someone, a boyfriend or husband, with a naked picture of ourselves, and then find out he showed it to all of his friends. Or we break up with him and he spreads photos and videos of us together across the Internet.
We have to check to make sure our windows are closed before getting out the shower, crippled with the unreasonable fear that someone might be outside snooping on us and ready to take our picture. But is it really an unreasonable fear? How many women know another woman who has had naked photos of her shared with someone else against her will?
It is a problem that uniquely affects women - either because women don’t share naked pictures the way men do or because men just don’t care.
Embrace our sexuality, it is criticized
The sexualization of the female body in our culture is out of control. Women can not breastfeed in public without being accused of trying to seduce a nearby man.
We can not go out looking nice without being subjected to catcalls and lewd stares. Everything we wear is subjected to commentary.
Emma Watson herself was recently criticized for what she wore on the cover of Vanity Fair. And if something happens to a woman when she is wearing something provocative, she is immediately subjected to slut-shaming.
After all, men only grope women against their will because they can’t control themselves if they see a set of bare legs, right?
When will it stop? When will our men stand up for what is right and stop sharing photos that are meant to be private? When will women be able to live in this world without constant fear that their privacy will be somehow violated? Not today, apparently.
