The Great Naked Celebrity Photo Leak of 2014 ⇥ theguardian.com

Roxane Gay, in an editorial for the Guardian:

It’s not clear what the people who leak these photos hope to achieve beyond financial gain and a moment of notoriety. I suppose such impoverished currency is enough. The why of these questions is hardly relevant. These hackers are not revealing anything the general public does not already know. BREAKING: beneath their clothes, celebrities are naked.

What these people are doing is reminding women that, no matter who they are, they are still women. They are forever vulnerable.

I’ve seen a handful of people (read: men, typically) on Twitter suggest that weak passwords were at fault here. That’s like saying that a lack of a deadbolt on the door of the women’s locker room is invitation enough for people (read: men, typically) to creep around in there. There are others stating that celebrities shouldn’t back up their nude selfies, or take nude photos at all. Again, this is entirely wrong.

If you are a man — especially a white male — and a member of the general public, you’re probably not going to be targeted to have your most intimate photos or text broadcast to the world. If you’re a woman — and especially a public figure — there are assholes who feel entitled to your most intimate photos, and think that it’s fair game for them to be in the public realm. Not only is this criminal, it’s morally bankrupt. There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to view these photos, or for them to be leaked in the first place.

Given enough time, anyone can crack Jennifer Lawrence’s password, but, really, nobody should even be trying to. We should respect everyone’s right to privacy equally.