Right to bodily privacy

Regarding reports of nude pictures taken at a Pennsylvania State University fraternity: Yet another sex scandal involving a fraternity; not terribly surprising. They are young, they’re men, and our society is saturated with sexual imagery.

At a time when even hard-core pornography can be accessed with a simple click and a screen, the thing that is most disturbing is the violation of the women involved. Apparently, photographs of naked women are not arousing enough. With pictures taken when the women have no way of knowing or refusing, the interest increases.

Ordinary, naked women, say a woman choosing to pose for the camera, don’t elicit the same interest. Add the element of theft or trespass, as in the taking of these images while the women are unawares or unconscious, now that’s exciting.

The increased titillation appears to be in the violation of these individual women’s rights to their own bodies, and it is telling. It seems yet another example of violence and discrimination against women and akin to so-called “revenge porn.” One of the definitions on Merriam-Webster’s site for the word “violation” is: “The act of ignoring or interfering with a person’s rights.” The right to bodily privacy must be paramount.

Jennifer Adams

Spokane