Nude selfies are in the news. Today, 22 school kids on the Gold Coast have been suspended for sharing inappropriate images of teenage school girls.
Last week, a website with more than 2,000 graphic images of female high school students was shut down. It was a forum where high school boys and men were uploading, sharing and “rating” images of girls without their consent.
One school in Victoria was reported to have called all girls from Year 7 to Year 10 into a meeting to discuss the online abuse. In the same meeting they urged girls to refrain from sending sexy selfies, and reminded them to wear their skirt below their knee.
The reaction to this news has been resoundingly clear:
Girls, stop sending nude or sexualised pictures to young men. Who knows where they might end up.
And you know what? That is exactly what someone from an older generation would say. Someone who doesn’t understand how modern-day relationships work.
Those offering their wisdom on teen relationships may question why anyone would want to send images of their breasts or vagina or full naked body. Because, out of context, the behaviour seems bizarre. Foreign. Dangerous. The same way sex before marriage once seemed strange and risky.
Top Comments
Victim Blaming v Risk Minimisation: A Simple Explanation
Victim Blaming: If you send someone naked pictures of yourself and they end up on the net it's your fault. You should have known - it happens all the time.
Risk Minimisation: Your body belongs to you. What you do with your body is up to you. If you choose to send people naked pictures of yourself, that is absolutely fine. BUT you need to know that some people suck. And some people will do the wrong thing and, even if they are held accountable for what they've done, their actions may impact negatively on you so sadly you need to take that into account when making decisions. While you're at it, remember what you do can hurt other people too, so treat other people with respect.
Young girls are incapable of not sending nude pics to boys.
Young boys are incapable of not sending nude pics to boys.
Girls are victims, boys are evil.
Those young boys are sharing images sent to them in confidence (or, in some cases, obtained through hacking). They should be charged.