Since the advent of the internet, there has been revenge porn. And with smartphones being a common everyday tool, many of us have at one time or another taken, sent and/or received naughty pictures or videos of ourselves and/or our partners. What you do with your phone and your image is your business, as is mine is mine. However, it’s not up to someone else to exploit.
Often, women find themselves the object of revenge porn uploads. Resentful exes uploading their private images onto porn websites and sometimes, social media, designed to embarrass, harass and punish the women who have had the gall to leave them.
And for the longest time, politicians had refused to do anything on this issue, effecting so many women and their privacy, hiding under the guise that “the internet is impossible to police”.
What did it take for them to make a change? Immense public pressure from a beloved celebrity. One that is loved by men, not because they want to see her naked, but because she’s sassy and funny and sweet. I’m talking about Jennifer Lawrence. You remember the latest round of celebrity phone hacks. One where the public was divided. We had people who were claiming that if these celebrities didn’t want their nude photos leaked online, then they shouldn’t have taken it. As though being hacked was their fault.
That’s the same as saying, it is your fault for taking a shower in your house whilst someone else puts a hidden camera in there and uploads the video of you showering online for the world to watch. It is your fault that you didn’t wear clothes in your own shower, because well, you should have known better.
These photos and videos were between two consenting adults who are/were in loving relationships, they were not meant for the world to see, a giant violation of their privacy and civil liberties. These women were violated, plain and simple. If your dick-pic was plastered all over your Facebook wall, how would you feel?
Vanessa Hudgens was one of the first high profile celebrities who had been plagued with this scandal. Sadly for her, public opinion was not on her side, and not to mention, she was not as well loved as Jennifer Lawrence. The public didn’t care that she was violated, they were too busy checking out what she looked like in her birthday suit. Then, we had Kate Middleton and her peeping Tom shots being published and then distributed online. It is ridiculous to say that she should have known better, she was in a backyard of a country estate that was hundreds of meters from the road. And the world was only too eager for the Scarlett Johansson hacks. We as a society, are quite disgusting.
It is sad that we are in a society where our elected representatives are unwilling to do what is best for us, because it does not affect them directly. Let’s be honest here, the majority members of government are men, middle aged men. These men are not the ones affected by revenge porn, nude hacks, invasions of privacy, no-one is uploading their naked pictures/videos online, so, what do they care? They’re probably like the rest of us, busy googling to see what’s what and chuckling because they think that it’s not doing anyone any harm. Well, it’s doing the subject harm.
Since the last round of celebrity hacks, laws across many states and countries around the world have changed to reflect this, making it illegal for people to post revenge porn of any sort online. Over twenty years after the internet has become readily available to everyone.
The same can be said for gun laws in the US. What will it take before the Government is willing to make a change? People on both sides of the argument have constantly fought, to either tighten or leave as is, gun control. We all know this as The Second Amendment; shortened to The right to bear arms.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
A well regulated militia; this somehow is missing when the argument for the rights to bear arms is mentioned. A militia. Let’s be frank, if the public were to form a militia, they would be arrested. There is no way the US Government would consent to a militia being formed.
Even if this was to be allowed, the Supreme Court ruled that it is up to the Federal Government to police what constitute under the “arms” bit. That is, it is up the Federal Government to police what weapons the individual is allowed to own and use. And sadly, this is what is constantly being fought over in the political minefield. With the Republicans and the NRA on one side, whilst the Democrats are on the other side.
What will it take before the US Government makes a change to the list of weapons which are legal to own? A list which they are responsible for policing. It is evident that no massacre is going to change the gun laws, because well, the people who are effected or have been killed are not powerful enough. They’re average people, who are not directly related to anyone in government. And that’s the sad hard truth.
Until someone incredibly high profile is killed in a massacre, there will not be enough public outrage or support for a change in the laxed law. Children are being executed, disabled people are being executed, the most helpless within our society, and yet, it is not enough to bring on change. “Our thoughts and prayers” are all that politicians and wannabes are offering. Neither your thoughts or prayers are actually actions which will go forth to help prevent such massacres.
And for everyone who thinks that it wouldn’t be so bad if others were armed as well. Let me put it into perspective for you, how many of you are actually great shots. Snipper like in your accuracy as people scream and run for cover. Are you really going to be able to be calm enough to make a clean shot which will only stop the one responsible? I know we often like to think that we will be awesome combat heroes in our own little minds, but the reality is a completely different story.
Will it take someone like JLaw dying in a massacre before you’re willing to do something about it? Before you stop putting the importance of lining your campaign coffers and fear of receiving hate mail before what is best for your people? Do your job, help the people and govern, stop thinking about your self-serving interests.
Ranter & Banter 