Manboys Throw Tantrum Over Having Their Celebrity Nudes Taken Away
“I don’t really know why it’s such a big deal. Jennifer’s breasts are great! Why is she so upset?” This was a snippet of the conversation I heard between two high school-aged boys on the bus this morning. They were discussing the nude leak that took place earlier this week and they were angry that they no longer had access to the photos.
These two young men, who were lamenting the fact that they didn’t save the photos, had also completely missed (or had not been given) the memo that just because someone is attractive and famous doesn’t mean that their body belongs to anyone but themselves and that Lawrence, possessed of “an awesome pair of tits, though,” or not should a) not feel like she can’t take pictures of herself in private and b) should not have her photos disseminated in any way she does not choose. I busied myself with my phone and Imgur, where the discussion was not at all elevated either. Sure, I may have been expecting understanding and self-awareness from sources where there usually are none, but there’s something to be said about a community that will upvote sentiments about how awful it must be for Lawrence’s brothers (they’ll never live this down and this is obviously about them) but have, as a whole, absolutely no empathy for the actual victim of a sex crime. And those that do, according to Salon, are just white knights, defined by some communities as males that treat “women as goddesses and do nothing but shower them in compliments on how wonderful and beautiful and special they are.” Or, you know, people who are just fucking considerate and not fucking pieces of shit who think that women are objects.
White Knights, writes Andrew Leonard, are men who oppose misogyny and objectification and are the enemies of those who identify with the men’s rights movement or pick-up artists. Even on Jezebel, I’ve been accused of being a white knight simply because I showed solidarity when the site was being bombarded with rape gifs. Even though I work here.
The white knights of “the fappening” (the cutest name for a sex crime) are those mods on Reddit and Imgur who are shutting down the nude posts as quickly as they’re put up. These mods are monsters, depriving thirsty, hungry men — men who have a god-given right to see Jennifer Lawrence’s butthole — of the reward they so richly deserve. And their voice, although useless and disgusting are loud.
Salon has put together a few quotes from those who are currently languishing without ill-gotten nude pics in the Fappening subreddit. Here are some of the more tame ones:
Seriously, I keep clicking imgur links and getting stonewalled. Fuck them.
If an event such as this happens again, I will not accept calling anything other than the Second Cumming.
If he gets arrested before they are all released I’m going to be so fucking pissed
I hope he has it all worked out, so that if he gets raided he will just press a button and instantly share the rest of all the shit, post it to 4chan and reddit and pretty much everyfuckingwhere else.
EVERYTHING IS GETTING BANNED??? THE LIVE STREAM AND THE COLLECTION OF ALL THE NUDES THAT THEDUKE AS POSTED?? WHAT IS GOING ON??
Holy fuck the live thread and the compilation thread are banned. What the actual fucking fuck.
As you can see, the loss of these photos (the same photos that are likely causing a great deal of emotional pain to the people who have been affected) is a big deal to this community. It’s almost like it’s a major world event. I’m surprised no one has likened the banning and removal of the galleries to the holocaust, but it’s early. We’ve got lots of daylight left to burn.