Why taking photos without consent should be a crime
I’m sick of creeps taking pictures of me with their cell phones. In high school some boys photoshopped pictures of me to look like I was naked and posted them on a revenge porn site with my name, address, and a fake social security number. I was underage at the time.
When I was 17, a boy approached me in the hallway and shouted, “Do you EVER smile!?” So I did smile, and he snapped a picture of me and later edited it into porn. My yearbook picture was also used in photoshopped explicit images, making me wonder if one of the boys involved was on the school yearbook team. Photoshop was available on school computers to all students enrolled in art classes. However, GIMP was a well known free art program that could be used like photoshop.
I found the pictures by googling my name. I have a mole on my chest and armpit that of course weren’t in any of the pictures, so the boys who made them DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT I LOOKED LIKE. I never did anything to them to provoke such a nasty prank. I’m not even sure what their names were or how many people were involved.
One guy in my class spread the rumor that I used to be his girlfriend and claimed that’s how he got naked pictures of me. (I’ve never dated. I’ve never even kissed before.). He was in the same senior art class as me and literally lied about how I had sent him pictures right in front of my face. Why would he do something that mean even though I didn’t know him? He never even made an effort to get to know me. He never even greeted me one time (before he made the pictures).
The website my pictures were posted on got shut down, probably because it was full of child porn. I was also not the only victim in my school. Several underage girls ended up having naked pictures of themselves spread around. One of them was my friend, and I know she would NEVER give random guys pictures of herself like that. Her boyfriend at the time didn’t even go to our school. Both her parents were lawyers, so her mom went to the school principal and threatened to file a lawsuit. At first he actually tried to talk her out of it, saying, “You don’t know those pictures are really fake.”, “You wouldn’t want your daughter to fall into the public spotlight.”, and even “You could ruin these young men’s lives by doing this!” He ended up saying that he would track the IP addresses of the people who posted the images on a school sponsored website, but when she called a few days later he said that THE PICTURES HAD BEEN DELETED AND HE COULD NOT TRACK THE POSTERS. This is a pretty good indication that some of the boys who participated in this sick game were the sons of staff members or other important people in my small town.
At my high school, I once saw a boy take a picture up a girl’s skirt while she was walking down the hallway holding her boyfriend’s hand. He turned and glared at me. I was so scared I froze up. He smirked and turned his phone my way, so I turned around and started walking the other way with tears in my eyes. I was so afraid to even stand up for another victim after what had happened to me. Someone who sat behind me took pictures of my butt crack, spread the pictures around, and made disgusting comments about it on myspace (calling me fat). I’ve also seen boys take pictures of a substitute teacher’s legs with dumb grins on their faces.
And the final nail in the coffin was this. A guy who I had politely refused for a homecoming date gathered a group of people on myspace who all went to my school and sent them more photoshopped pictures of me. He claimed that he had hacked my computer and that was how he had gotten the pictures. But I have never put naked pictures of myself on my computer or anywhere else. He also spread rumors about me, telling everyone who asked that I was a slut and that I had been mean to him and called him names. I HADN’T called him anything. The reason I had rejected him was because I didn’t know him very well, and he seemed bossy.
I went to college bitter and angry but held onto the thoughts that boys are just immature, and things will get better. I was wrong. I have the same problems to this day. Men are worse than boys. A man who sat next to me in chemistry asked me for my phone number one day, claiming he wanted it so he could organize a study session. I refused to give it to him, saying that I only use my phone for emergencies due to how expensive minutes are. It seemed to tick him off, but he kept asking more and more personal questions that he didn’t need to know. He asked when and where my other classes were, where I worked, where I lived, if I had a car, what my address was, and for my social security number. He asked if I had a boyfriend, he asked if he could take a picture of me, and he wouldn’t shut up about why I wouldn’t give him my phone number.
In the chemistry lab, I caught a guy taking pictures of me and my butt. He was just standing there grinning. He didn’t even try to cover up what he was doing. I later found out that he went to the same high school as me. It figures he thought he could do anything he wanted to the loser girl who no one liked in high school. I ended up dropping my chemistry class because of the harassment. I feared for my safety, and I wasn’t doing well in there grade wise either.
At my college, I have detected RS signals (potential hidden cameras) in bathrooms twice now with an RS detector, and on one of the incidents I stuffed what must have been two inches of lead from a mechanical pencil into what looked like a peep hole in the wall. I haven’t found any pinhole cameras yet, but I will call the police if I ever do.
My experiences have traumatized me in many ways. I am afraid to go out anywhere other than to classes. I don’t like to be included in family pictures. I don’t feel like I can trust all the men in my family. I feel dirty and unlovable, and I no longer love anyone or anything. So my heart has been rid of love itself. Now all that’s left is hate and suspicion. I was never raped, but I feel like I have been. For everyone who has called me a “slut” and said that I was “easy” after they saw the fake pictures it felt like I really was. I actually started to believe that I wasn’t a virgin. After I went to see a gynecologist for the first time, I found out my hymen was intact at 21. Don’t get me wrong, I know girls take pictures of other girls they don’t like too (in locker rooms), but I was bullied by BOYS. These are my experiences. I’m not saying that all men are perverts, just mostly all of them. Most men. Men don’t have hearts to begin with.
This post was submitted by 2ugly2love.
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Just so you understand what you are asknig for. You want someone to be beaten up and inprisoned for something like this? Because thats what you are proposing.
Not to mention that after this, any photo taken in public might get the photographer inprisoned, because someone happened to be on it that didn`t want to.
Good idea, its not like this would take away freedoms that were taken as granted until now, and push you closer of being a tyrannical police state.
“Men don’t have hearts to begin with.”
Yeah, i see where you are comnig from. It really shouldn`t come as a suprise that people like you would propose laws like this. Feminist like you have allways been yearning for a facist police state.
Seriously, when will you shut up and stop blaming feministts for everything?
to Muzolf:
Pfft. Yeah I’ve seen your other comments. Not sure what you wish to accomplish by trolling around on this forum though. Never once did I suggest that people should be “beaten up and inprisoned” for taking photographs in public. LMAO. Prove that you have a heart then, if I’m so wrong. You aren’t doing a very good job.
Muzolf just because something is a crime doesn’t necessarily mean punishment so harsh will come of it. While I think maybe it should be altering and distributing that has legal issues, if men are taking pictures of women’s privates that in fact is a criminal offense. Just as it would be if women took pictures of men’s privates (though if you’ve been anywhere on the internet men don’t seem to have problems showing their privates… *shudders*). And actually, statistically speaking, the most common political platform of feminists is democratic socialism, or some similar variation. Fascism would only make oppression against women worse (given fascism is the most extreme form of traditionalist governing in existence)… If you’re going to try to throw empty insults at us at least use accurate information. Communism is far closer to democratic socialism than fascism is.
“These are my experiences. I’m not saying that all men are perverts, just mostly all of them. Most men. Men don’t have hearts to begin with.”
i think i understand why you feel the way you do. i get a sense of guilt while i read your post because it’s obvious that men do this to women quite often. i guess it’s a bit like “white guilt” toward black people. there actually are guys out there that have true moral concerns for the problems you’ve faced though many may say “suck it up” or “that’s life”. my advice would be to not concern yourself with the bad actions of others and focus on the good. do that and remember that when someone goes out of their way to harm you in any way, they are just wasting there life proving to themselves how useless they are and how desperate they are to find something in society they are good for which you and i both know is nothing. do what helps you help others, be proud of it and don’t let those bad people bring you down.
i see “pictures without consent being a crime” wrong. i personally love taking and seeing pictures of people in everyday life. getting consent from someone and taking natural or realistic photos or videos of them is nearly impossible. i think, in many cases, someone knowing you’re taking photographs or videotaping distorts reality. when someone TRIES being sad, happy, angry, confused etc., it ruins what the image it’s supposed to project. consent can also be given by those who are perverse. it’s a touchy subject when you can go from the examples you’ve given to those who would raise lawsuits against someone for revealing the wrong doings of a person working under a company name or someone trying to prove the wrong doings of a company itself. i personally think taking a public photograph of you should not be illegal but modifying it in any way should be subjected to consequences.
“Seriously, when will you shut up…”
Never.
“…stop blaming feministts for everything?”
When they will not be responsible for the problem mentioned.
“Never once did I suggest that people should be “beaten up and inprisoned” for taking photographs in public. ”
Yes you did. You may not realise this. But every time someone says “This should be a crime.” or “someone should make a law about this.” You are using proxy violence. You are proposing that someone be beaten up or be imprisoned for that thing.
Allso, just because someone has a different opinion then you, that is not trolling. Trolling would be if i didn`t care what you wrote, but tried to make you mad. Thats mostly the domain of some others posters around here.
“When they will not be responsible for the problem mentioned.”
So… Guys photoshopping girls into porn and taking pictures up women’s skirts are problems caused by feminists?
Trololololololol
Or maybe, it is that you try to make a mountain of a molehill and create an actual problem from a percieved one.
People have a right to take pictures in public, no matter how much you bitch and whine about it.
I think it’s rather funny you mention mountains made of molehills since you’re very proficient at creating them muzolf. I don’t think OP necessarily means ALL photos. Just ones with sexual content, or ones intended to be sexual content. If you do mean all photos though, OP then you should consider how impractical that would be. Everyone who wanted to simply take pictures with their friends would have to carry around freedom of information wavers and get every person (even background people) to sign off their consent with witnesses. This becomes a hassle and defeats the fun of taking pictures in the first place.
However I still think muzolf takes thing way further than necessary. Why he believes all crimes are punished by brutality I’ll never know. Something like this (bullying and hazing) usually only results in a fine or a slap on the wrist.
This problem however is no fabricated mountain. Women have their crotches posted on the internet all the time by sick freaks like that and the fact that you think this isn’t a problem just shows how jaded and misogynistic you are. Photoshopping a woman’s face onto pornographic images is just as bad, as it’s defacing. It could potentially ruin a person’s reputation (maybe even permanently) and allowing those little snots to get away with it only encourages their behaviour.
I don’t believe that OP wants those boys to be beaten senselessly (regardless of whether or not they deserve it) just that the law should step in and prevent that sort of injustice. Her school administrators clearly aren’t doing their jobs so it should require police intervention (possibly a fine or time in juvenile hall) NOT beating a child as that is a crime in itself.
To Muzolf
Gee, men are so easily offended. They think they should be able to see any woman naked at any time they want, but when you tell them they can’t, they get all mad. But maybe you do have a point? I guess it’s “freedom of speech” to take innocent pictures of women and post them on porn sites. All women look like sluts with their pretty faces and curvy bodies, right? Especially if they are wearing skirts or you can see their cleavage. Why should anything be private anyway? You should just be allowed to hide cameras in bathrooms and dressing rooms if you want to for Christ’s sake. It’s the 21st century, there are security cameras everywhere anyway! Women CHOOSE to dress in CLOTHES instead of goddam metal plated boxes. It’s not like it ACTUALLY harms women, right? I mean, I don’t feel like killing myself or anything, and if I did it would be my own fault anyway.
Pengu, i meant exact what you describe in your paragraph. Not photos taken of your crotch with the phone pushed under your skirt, or photos taken in a toilet. In case you arent aware of it, the latter is allready a crime.