At Sex 2.0 blogger Maria Diaz presented a session on “Revenge Porn.” Here are my rough, non-verbatim notes taken live during the session. Update Calico has posted video transcripts.
Workshop initially inspired by hassles faced by Gretchen Rossi of a TV show called “Real Housewives of Orange County”
- Ex boyfriend started to post photos to thedirty.com after the show aired
- She doesn’t talk about it but she’s attempted legal action against the website
So! What is revenge porn?
- Photos or images distributed by someone in an attempt to humiliate the subject; sometimes includes contact info
- First used on urbandictionary in 2007
- (Comment: For sex-industry people may not be photos but might be contact info)
Reason for the talk
- People are sharing more pictures and other personal information than ever.
- Not just for world but peer group
- Solution has to be more realistic than “never take naked photos or otherwise do anything else that could ever get online ever.”
Different flavors of revenge porn
- Celebrity sex tape
- Scorned ex who distributes tapes to world or to friends
- Faux revenge professional porn
- The Revenge Porn threat (blackmail) “Do what I want or I’ll release the photos
4 Cases
- Lena Chen (formerly of Sex and the Ivy blog)
- Outed in photos by disgruntled ex
- Kim Kardashian (Public celebrity)
- Carrie Prejean (Miss California)
- Carrie Prejean was outed as revenge for homophobia… but still was outed and it was still revenge
- Jason Fortuny (with a twist)
- Posted respondents to his “violent craigslist” prank
- Imagined he was in the clear but wound up losing court battle
Maria Diaz asked: Why do outed celebrities’ seem to suffer less career-wise (but not suffer less personally)
- Guess: Probably papparazi influence
Question: Why the market for humiliated/revenge-upon-ed wives, husbands?
- Opportunity to look down on someone
- “At least I don’t have naked photos of me…”
- Eroticizing shaming/prudery
- Justifying/viewing “object lesson” participation
- How people think about women (has to do with why it’s almost always women.)
- Not much stigma for men because (no-sex class moment here) it’s expected that men will “debase” themselves. It might happen that they’re outed but it’s not “news.”
Question: With everyone growing up with phonecams, etc do you think it’ll ever reach a point where someone won’t have to resign or won’t be hired if outed?
- Probably so. There’s often little lasting damage now
- There is a control issue. Sex bloggers (e.g. Lena Chen) who post their own photos still felt hurt and betrayed when an partner does it against their wishes
Maria: Problem with Jason Fortuny and other revenge/stalking cases is there were, or are, no real laws.
Point: Revenge porn ought to be treated as internet stalking
Downside: law enforcement may not be prepared/motivated to enforce stalking in the first place
Point: saturation of millions of “yeah I did that too” takes power away from straight-up revenge. Saturation doesn’t protect in Fortuny-type “craigslist respondent” outings
Point Saying “If you have to do it… lock it down, get “collateral,” is implicitly agreeing it’s wrong. Saying “it’s the worst thing” is only an issue if it’s really the worst thing!
Possible “fight fire with fire” Strategy:
- Cuts both ways
- Out people who post revenge porn.
- Saturation may protect victims (I mean, at some point it’s going to become “so what”) but it’s unlikely to protect perpetrators.
- At some point in the future we’ll be blazé about being naked on the internet…
- But! At no point are we ever likely to be unconcerned about assholes who out people.
