A new Reddit hub, r/creepshots, celebrates the right to secretly snap photos of unsuspecting women — many of whom are obviously underage — and post them on the internet for all to see. Disgusting? Obviously. But it's also 100% legal.
Upskirt and downblouse shots — and the forums that gleefully foster them — are nothing new; reddit has had an upskirt subreddit for years. But while many of the photos on r/upskirt are obviously staged, r/creepshots is specifically creep-only: the posters get off on the fact that the photo subjects have no idea their panty lines are being discussed online. In less than two months, the forum has amassed over 1,200 followers. "We did it...awesome stuff," its community bio proclaims. "All you contributions make i what it is, so thank you...Spread the word and get creepin'"
And creep they do (and there are many creepy photos ahead in the links). You can find PG-13 rated photos of young girls and women hanging out at Barnes & Noble, sitting on the bus (photo taken from above for strategic viewing purposes), and walking around the office in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Some creeps take the term "creep" to soaring new levels by snapping photos of nurses while they are actually catering to their own medical needs. Others take photo after photo of coworkers hanging out at the company picnic with their faces included and clearly visible. "I bet everyone at your workplace wants to bone the girl in the blue shorts," one commenter concluded.
The creeps can be rather picky — in one post featuring a rather classily-dressed woman at Starbucks titled "Everyone was staring at this thing," commenters posited, "Jeez, who wouldn't?" and "That ass is amazing, but try a thong next time." — but most everyone agrees that teenage girls are the best. Here's one teen shopping in a grocery store, wearing a "Class of 2016" t-shirt. Here's a pic of a girl sitting at her desk in a short skirt. There are way, way more where that came from, thanks to users like Ssj3trunks8, a student who takes photos of his female classmates that clearly show high school text books and teachers.
In 2004, Congress passed the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, which "prohibits the recording by any means or disseminating images of an individual's "private areas" without consent under circumstances in which that individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy, regardless of whether the individual is in a private or public location." Many states have passed their own laws against unauthorized photographs as well. But it only applies to "naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast," which make the law extremely difficult to enforce. If you're wearing short shorts — or a miniskirt, or leggings, or a bathing suit — you just might find your photos on r/creepshots.
Even if it were easier to sue for creep shots, Reddit wouldn't take responsibility; they don't host the photos. (That's how they've gotten around child pornography allegations in the past.) So despite complaints from sub groups like r/feminism, r/feminisms, and r/girlsinyogapants (yep, even a subreddit specifically devoted to sexy photos of girls in yoga pants is creeped out by r/creepshots, which is really saying something), there's no reason why the creeps can't go on merrily creeping along.
"I have found out the reason of the high influx of downvotes in r/CreepShots recently!," Anxious_Molester wrote today, linking to a thread on r/Feminism that discussed their forum. "Fuck those stupid cunts. Carry on," a commenter advised. And they can.
Image via sabri deniz kizil/Shutterstock.