Thursday, September 4, 2014

Jennifer Lawrence is the Victim

The internet is all a buzz about those nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and a few other celebrities whose pictures were STOLEN from their phones and then sold to websites to be plastered all over the web for the world to see.  I'm not going to get into a discussion about whether those women "should" have taken those photos. I'm not going to do that because, to me, that's like asking if the woman who was raped should have worn that short skirt. Just because I don't wear short skirts doesn't mean the woman who does deserves to be raped, people.

Do I take nude photos with my phone?  Not today.  But, I've sent my husband some racy stuff over the years that I wouldn't want anyone but my man to see. It was from MY phone to HIS phone. It was private. It was for us. Period.  If some thief steals my husband's phone, the onus is on the thief for being a thief, not me or my man for privately sharing with one another, whether anyone else likes what we shared or not! As a side note:  We've been asked more times than I can remember how we keep our almost 20 year relationship fresh. Someone just asked me last week how David and I have been able still be happy to see one another after "all this time". Well, there's one clue, peeps. He's my husband and I'm allowed to do whatever I want with him and vise versa. You don't have to like it, but I shouldn't be ashamed or fearful of being the victim of some pervert, either!!!

When did we, as a culture, begin to suggest that the victim should feel shame for being victimized? Was it when the raped became the "slut", while the rapist was simply a man unable to control himself? Was it when we began to blow up life sized pictures of women in their panties and plaster them across mall walls and pretend that was a form of feminism?  When did women begin to feel so small that they would tolerate, even be encouraged, to silently accept being barked at on the street by some man unable to form coherent sentences as a form of flattery?  When did women begin to think that keeping silent isn't, at least to some degree, equated with acceptance?  I refuse to accept that Jennifer Lawrence is to blame for this recent scandal that some schmuck has brought to her door.

This isn't just an invasion of someone's privacy, either.  This is basic sexual harrassment and those hackers are sex offenders.  They stole private nude photos of women and then sold them to websites to be posted without those women's permission.  Can you even imagine?! Why should SHE feel shame in that action?  Why is SHE being slyly degraded?  She didn't sell these pictures or pose for them with the intent of selling her body.  Jennifer Lawrence is a talented actress who should be remembered for being a talented actress.  THAT is all that she is selling to the world.  Now, she'll forever be associated with taking private photos of her own body that was, frankly, no one's business but her own. 

I'm disgusted by most of the comments I've read and most of the articles on the subject.  The commenters and blog authors keep getting sidetracked with whether her private life was acceptable to them personally.  They keep getting pulled into a moral discussion about someone's life whom they've never even met or had a conversation with.  The sideline bullies keep judging someone they don't know because Jennifer's actions wouldn't have been their actions, therefore, Jennifer Lawrence must deserve what she got.

And do you know what?  Most of these bullies and thief cheerleaders are WOMEN!!  I'm disgusted by it and appalled that any woman would support what happened to these women.  I'm disgusted that not one person has questioned why it's only women who had their phones hacked and their private photos posted for the world to view. Because we all know that there are plenty of narcissistic male celebrities who have some racy stuff on their phones but no one would judge them in the same light, so why bother?! And we fall for it every single time.

Here's to hoping that everyone reading this doesn't actually get what they deserve and here's to hoping none of us have our private lives unwillingly displayed for all the world to see and judge. I'm guessing most of us would be nothing more than the girl in the short skirt who was begging for it if people could see some of our more vulnerable moments in the privacy of our homes.

And to Jennifer Lawrence: I'm sorry some bully invaded your privacy and your safe space. I hope they get what they deserve for victimizing you and that you feel safe in the privacy of your own home sooner rather than later. 




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