Was it prudent of Jennifer Lawrence to take pictures of herself nude in the first place? Y/N?

[otakon17]

I am not victim blaming here. She didn't invite this leak to happen by doing so, but I feel she did expose herself without thinking of the possible consequences. It is a simple thing not to take pictures of yourself and then send them over a network to a phone that could possibly be stolen. Especially considering she's a celebrity and in the United States there is an unhealthy obsession with them in my opinion generally. You can't do things like this as a public figure if only to avoid possibly incriminating yourself.

I close with the following points:
1. She did not invite this invasion of privacy by taking these photographs. No one(save certain situations) has the right to do this kind of thing.
2. I am not blaming her for what happened to her. The one responsible is the asshole that got a hold of them.
3. I am NOT condoning the actions of said asshole.
4. And to all those that downloaded said pictures and use "Well she shouldn't have taken them in the first place.", fuck off that's not the point of the argument to justify your invasion of a woman's privacy.

I do not condone this turn of events and do not blame her for them. I simply feel that if she should not have taken compromising pictures of herself in the first place.

EDIT: In light of EVERYONE saying I am victim blaming, I have changed the title of the topic to more accurately reflect my view on the matter.

 

[Hap2]

I am not victim blaming here.

Except you're going to do just that:

I simply feel that if she should not have taken compromising pictures of herself in the first place.

You're sending a lot of mixed messages here, at one point you're condemning those people for saying the exact same thing you said at the end of your post:

And to all those that downloaded said pictures and use "Well she shouldn't have taken them in the first place.", fuck off that's not the point of the argument to justify your invasion of a woman's privacy.

What a person does on their phone is their own business, whether it's sending messages, sending nude photos to someone else, or something else not illegal or dangerous to the public, full stop. Breaching that privacy is wrong, regardless of whether the person is a public figure or not.

 

[InsanityRequiem]

If she wants to take nude pictures, let her. The issue amongst all this is the fact that personal accountability seems to be victim blaming. I blame Jennifer Lawrence (And everyone else who does this) for putting their trust in a system that has been known to fail time and time again. The amount of reports in regards to "high profile" and "secure" internet systems being hacked should tell people that maybe, just maybe, it is not a good idea to have nude photos and videos on a device connected to the internet.

The three things people should take away from this.

1) People need to realize that companies don't care about your privacy. They will say that your information is secure and then put that information in server with little actual security. If you want to do an action that you know can cause shame, embarrassment, anger, sadness, if the public found out, then it is best to either not do those actions or accept that the possibility of exposure is there. Do not put trust in others, people or companies.

2) Companies are not in the business of protecting your information. The NSA issues show that. Either by purposeful collusion or shoddy security, companies do what makes them the most money. Heck, I hear a lot of rumors that EULAs state that private information isn't as protected as stated. Especially when the companies say they have the top of the line security. If this issue causes major backlash against companies, all the better.

3) Hackers and privacy violators are out there. This isn't something new. Originally it was pictures duplicated and sold to media by film developers, but now it's people breaking through whatever walls were designed to protect information. Unless there's a major change in the architecture of the internet, there are ways to bypass the current set up and some people will abuse it for their own gain and pleasure.

People, particularly celebrities for some reason, need to understand that privacy can only be held in their own hands. Companies will always try to find the cheapest route. Privacy violators will always try to find the juiciest information.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I think there's an education issue here...

Do you think she would have sent the images by the means that she did if she knew this could happen?

How much do you want to bet she thought it was safe if the photos were deleted right away?

Most people I know don't realize that 'deleted' items can still be retrieved.

This was a terrible invasion of privacy, I hope that the person who did it is caught and appropriately punished.

 

[otakon17]

I am not victim blaming here.

Except you're going to do just that:

I simply feel that if she should not have taken compromising pictures of herself in the first place.

You're sending a lot of mixed messages here, at one point you're condemning those people for saying the exact same thing you said at the end of your post:

And to all those that downloaded said pictures and use "Well she shouldn't have taken them in the first place.", fuck off that's not the point of the argument to justify your invasion of a woman's privacy.

What a person does on their phone is their own business, whether it's sending messages, sending nude photos to someone else, or something else not illegal or dangerous to the public, full stop. Breaching that privacy is wrong, regardless of whether the person is a public figure or not.

To the last point, yeah it is wrong. I said as much in my first post so why are you reiterating? If it was something concerning an illegal matter or lives were on the line or some other kind of extenuating circumstance then it's different. This is not any of those things. I thought I made that clear.

As for my condemning, it's people using this statement to condone their actions. This is not a statement that condones this kind of thing and I am NOT condoning the actions of the thief or the downloaders of the photographs. But I still feel that if you don't take nude pictures of yourself, period, there is little chance of the possibly incriminating material getting out into the world.

I am not saying she does not deserve sympathy and I am not okay with this whole series of events. I am only saying that she did not think through of possibility of this happening. She's an actress, a public figure. She is more or less scrutinized and watched 24/7 by the zealous and obsessed. You have to be extra careful when you're in that kind of spotlight.

I can hear the counter argument now of "Well then no one should do anything for the possibility of being struck by lightning/mugged/have an airplane toilet fall on them." That doesn't really apply in the case where you perform actions that can potentially embarrass you.

 

[Skin]

If she wants to take nude pictures, let her. The issue amongst all this is the fact that personal accountability seems to be victim blaming. I blame Jennifer Lawrence (And everyone else who does this) for putting their trust in a system that has been known to fail time and time again. The amount of reports in regards to "high profile" and "secure" internet systems being hacked should tell people that maybe, just maybe, it is not a good idea to have nude photos and videos on a device connected to the internet.

Very well said. I agree completely.

Being a celebrity or public figure puts you right in the crosshairs of so very many people. She was either very naive or very stupid. Regardless, it was a lesson that many people needed to learn, so I do think it is a very good thing that the leaks happened. Think twice about everything you do that can be traced back to you.

 

[shrekfan246]

Being a celebrity shouldn't mean people aren't allowed to get their kicks off or, hell, do sexy things for themselves/their partners.

As a side-note, I feel like every time somebody begins a sentence with "I'm not [X], but..." they should stop and seriously reconsider what they're about to say/type.

 

[Zhukov]

Y'know, I don't really get why anyone would care.

Well, obviously I get why Lawrence would care, but not anyone else.

I mean, despite being a pretty actress, it's not as if she's going to look any different with her clothes off than any other fit young female, and it's not like there's a shortage of those voluntarily getting naked on the internet.

 

[anthony87]

Not my business what she does and doesn't take pictures of.

Not your business either.

Not sure what all the hubbub is about anyway. I mean surely there's other ways to see nudie pics on the internet right?

 

[otakon17]

Being a celebrity shouldn't mean people aren't allowed to get their kicks off or, hell, do sexy things for themselves/their partners.

As a side-note, I feel like every time somebody begins a sentence with "I'm not [X], but..." they should stop and seriously reconsider what they're about to say/type.

I was, very much so. And I know if I didn't put it down there I would have been called a victim blamer. And I am not in this case.

If she wants to take nude pictures, let her. The issue amongst all this is the fact that personal accountability seems to be victim blaming. I blame Jennifer Lawrence (And everyone else who does this) for putting their trust in a system that has been known to fail time and time again. The amount of reports in regards to "high profile" and "secure" internet systems being hacked should tell people that maybe, just maybe, it is not a good idea to have nude photos and videos on a device connected to the internet.

Very well said. I agree completely.

Being a celebrity or public figure puts you right in the crosshairs of so very many people. She was either very naive or very stupid. Regardless, it was a lesson that many people needed to learn, so I do think it is a very good thing that the leaks happened. Think twice about everything you do that can be traced back to you.

This is the crux of what I was getting at really.

 

[shrekfan246]

Being a celebrity shouldn't mean people aren't allowed to get their kicks off or, hell, do sexy things for themselves/their partners.

As a side-note, I feel like every time somebody begins a sentence with "I'm not [X], but..." they should stop and seriously reconsider what they're about to say/type.

I was, very much so. And I know if I didn't put it down there I would have been called a victim blamer. And I am not in this case.

If she wants to take nude pictures, let her. The issue amongst all this is the fact that personal accountability seems to be victim blaming. I blame Jennifer Lawrence (And everyone else who does this) for putting their trust in a system that has been known to fail time and time again. The amount of reports in regards to "high profile" and "secure" internet systems being hacked should tell people that maybe, just maybe, it is not a good idea to have nude photos and videos on a device connected to the internet.

Very well said. I agree completely.

Being a celebrity or public figure puts you right in the crosshairs of so very many people. She was either very naive or very stupid. Regardless, it was a lesson that many people needed to learn, so I do think it is a very good thing that the leaks happened. Think twice about everything you do that can be traced back to you.

This is the crux of what I was getting at really.

When images are leaked without the permission of the person who is the subject of said images, they're the victim.

It's not "personal accountability" to blame them for taking the pictures in the first place. EDIT: "Personal accountability" would be if she owned up to the fact that she took the pictures or had them taken. And that really has no relevance aside from her being confident in what should have been a personal matter.

Your intention may not be to victim blame here, but in saying that she shouldn't be allowed to take nude photos of herself or have them taken of her by a partner, you're blaming her for something she had minimal control over.

Yes, she could have not taken them in the first place. So could the thousands of other people who do it every single day. The accountability in this instance is entirely on the person who leaked the photos, because it is (I would assume) a massive breach of trust between two people to do something like that. What people do in the privacy of their own homes on their own time is none of my business, regardless of their status in pop culture. You might as well blame Pamela Anderson for having sex with Tommy Lee.

Look, I respect the position you're trying to assume here because you seem to have good intentions. But it's still unrealistic to expect a person to completely ignore one of the basic joys of being a person just because they're famous. I know from personal experience how exhilarating exhibitionism can be, I'm not going to try telling people they can't enjoy it because there's a chance someone is going to show the entire internet.

 

[Mikeybb]

Personally, I wouldn't have.

That doesn't mean she shouldn't have.

I think that people should be more aware of the relative fragility of the various kinds of security personal devices have these days.
If Ms Lawrence was fully aware of the tenuous nature of the security she was having faith in, then perhaps she would have chosen a non remotely accessible method of having her photos taken.
Granted, they may have been more candid, heat of the moment snaps.
If that was the case though, then awareness of the methods used for such photo storage would then have been most helpful to her.

Note, this is not a call for her to have 'been smarter about this'.
It is more a call for the service provider or personal device manufacturer to be more upfront about the potential holes in their security.

As a person in the media eye, Ms Lawrence is already very well aware of the degree that people will go to intrude on personal aspects of her life.
As such, if the information was more explicitly presented, what would have been an acceptable degree of security to an average user would have been easily identifiable as an unacceptable risk to Ms Lawrence.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

If you dont want some fucker to break your lock on your diary, read it, post it on the internet and make money from the advertising thats on the page its hosted dont write a diary. If you do its your fault fuckface, you needed a better lock or no diary.

I think this is a healthy message to spread to teenagers everywhere.

Sharing someones private personal images is disgusting. Hacker sounds cool, like some suave young adult used skill to retrieve precious information.

Invading someones personal life for your wank jollies just makes you a creepy asshole. Being the person who actively and intentionally extracts naked pictures of someone against their will makes you a borderline sex offender. Its fucking disturbing.

 

[xaszatm]

Here, let me tell you my response in image form:

[img=https://38.media.tumblr.com/23bada4f7d151707df3ad8e889940159/tumblr_nbaxr1Gvcg1qel5vuo1_500.png]https://38.media.tumblr.com/23bada4f7d151707df3ad8e889940159/tumblr_nbaxr1Gvcg1qel5vuo1_500.png[/img]

Now stop.

 

[Hoplon]

Disagree, people can pretty well do what they like to them selves. Keeping anything you want secure on a wireless accessible storage medium? insanity.

 

[JoJo]

I disagree, they were her photos to do whatever she wanted with, it's not her fault someone stole them to release them into the wild. Would it be your fault if someone released an embarrassing secret about you, like your porn habits or something, because you should have not done it in the first place?

 

[Colour Scientist]

Y'know, I don't really get why anyone would care.

Well, obviously I get why Lawrence would care, but not anyone else.

I mean, despite being a pretty actress, it's not as if she's going to look any different with her clothes off than any other fit young female, and it's not like there's a shortage of those voluntarily getting naked on the internet.

Shocking Report: Female celebrities are naked under their clothes!

OP: It's no one's business if she takes nude pictures of herself.

This was a serious invasion of privacy, this shouldn't be a question of what Lawrence should or shouldn't have done.