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It’s often said that cinema,

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by it's very nature, is voyeuristic,

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because film offers the audience a window

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into the hidden lives of others.

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Watching people’s stories on the big

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and small screen can indeed be

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fascinating and exhilarating.

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But the act of looking can also feel

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uncomfortable, invasive, even violating.

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Underpinning these uncomfortable moments

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we can find some alarming messages

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about the role of consent.

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To explain, let’s start here

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in the normal bedroom of a normal boy

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doing normal boy stuff.

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Normal stuff

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like spying on the girl next door.

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Popular culture is filled

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with scenes like this one

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Scenes in which one character,

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usually a man

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spies on another character,

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usually a woman

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without that person’s knowledge or consent

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To be clear, we're talking about secret

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surveillance of a person

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while they're alone

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in various states of undress

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or engaged in sexual activity.

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This is invasive looking

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that violates a person's

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reasonable expectation of privacy.

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In a staggering number of movies

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and tv shows, this type of spying

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isn't done by the villain.

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It is instead perpetrated

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by "nice guy" characters.

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"Slow down, baby"

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These are straight men, who are otherwise

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presented as decent.

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Or, at the very least,

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mostly harmless.

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"Hey! Hey!"

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This media patern is so prevasive,

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I thought it needed a name.

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"He's a peeping Tom!"

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So I call it "The harmless peeping Tom".

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"You know, it occurs to me,

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that you can see right into Donna's house

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from my driveway."

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"You don't say"

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(off-screen laughter)

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All of the boys on "That 70s Show"

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for instance, casually participate

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in spying behavior.

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"No, Anette! Not the robe!"

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(off-screen laughter)

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"Quick, somebody yell

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'pillow fight' in a girl voice"

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But the character of Fez

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is the quintessential example

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of a harmless peeping Tom.

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(off-screen laughter)
- "Oh my god, Fez!"

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"Nice honkers!"

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(off-screen laughter)

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"Get out of here!"

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"Fez?"

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There's a years long running gag

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about how he's always spying on women.

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Often hiding in their bedroom closets.

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"Oh my god, did you see anything?"

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"Not much, you should really think

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about a nightlight."

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And yet this pattern of intrusive behavior

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is just considered a minor

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nuisance on the show.

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"Ouch"

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"You okay?"

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(camera click)

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"Fez!"

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(off-screen laughter)

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"With this, you can see

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through a lady's clothes"

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(off-screen laughter)

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"Okay, Jackie, prepare to be ogled"

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Fez even ends up

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in a romantic relationship

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with one of the women

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he's spied on.

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Over 8 seasons of prime time television.

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Scenes in which boys secretly spy on girls

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were a staple of so called

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"teen sex comedies".

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In the late 1970s and early 80s.

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But the media pattern didn't begin or end

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with Animal House, Porky's

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or Revenge of the Nerds.

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"Oh! Yeah!"

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Alfred Hitchcock was famously obsessed

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with voyeurism.

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And included peeping scenes

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in several of his most notable films.

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Since then, we've seen

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Harmless Peeping Toms pop up

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in practically every genre.

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From action movies to horror films.

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From romantic dramas

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to science fiction adventures.

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And it's not uncommon for video games

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to present players with interactive

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peeping opportunities.

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"Look at this, come here"

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"There's a naked woman across the street"

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"Where?"

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"Second floor from the top

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see the window on the left"

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"Wow"

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The trope has also been a mainstay

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on TV sitcoms.

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"Oh my God, that's Rachel naked!"

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Usually as a one-off gag

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in a handful of episodes.

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"Would you have opened the door

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if you knew it was me?"

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"Not since I found out

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the teddy bear you gave me

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had a webcam in it!"

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While we may typically think

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of peeping Toms as a stranger

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hiding in the bushes,

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spying can take many different forms.

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"Did I miss anything?"

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"Oh my God"

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"Oh!"

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"Oh, thank you, God, for this wonderful,

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wonderful day"

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Occasionally, spying is presented

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as a part of man's job.

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Like a cop on a stakeout.

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"Oh, wow, oh yeah"

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But in many of those scenarios,

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the Harmless Peeping Tom trope

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still applies.

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"To protect and to serve"

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"Ooh, ooh, ohh, I love my job so much, oh"

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In espionage themed media,

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the guy might have access

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to high-tech spying gadgets.

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"Nine different enhanced visions modes

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every little boy's dream:

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the penetrating mode"

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"And would you look at that"

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In superhero stories

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or supernatural plot lines

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the guy's powers may be used

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as a way to gain access

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to a woman's body.

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(woman screams)

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"And He saw, that it was good"

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Superman, for example

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is often upheld as a paragon of good

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decent manhood

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and yet even he steals a quick peek

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from time to time.

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Harmless Peeping Toms

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aren't always the hero.

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But, they're not the villain either.

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"I wind up seeing a lot more of Ava

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than I bargained for"

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Even if the protagonist has, let's say

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questionable morals

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or is involved

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in other criminal activities

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the spying itself isn't framed as a strike

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against his character.

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And critically

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the audience is still meant

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to indentify with HIM as he's peeping.

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"What?"

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It's not unusual

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for invasions of privacy

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to be framed as endearing.

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"Excuse me?"

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"Oh!"

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"I think you're in my bath..."

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"Close your eyes!"

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or just the innocuous behavior

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of a guy with a crush.

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Even when peeping is called out

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as pathetic, annoying or a little creepy

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"It was an accident."

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"You're an asshole!"

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his actions are, more often than not,

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quickly forgiven and forgotten.

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A good way to illustrate the deeper

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problem here can be found in the

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"no peeking" plot cliché.

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"How did you see it?

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You said you wouldn't look!"

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"Sorry, as I told you the hero

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always peeks."

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The set up is a familar one: a woman

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needs to change clothes for some reason.

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But her guy friend is standing right there

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"You're not bothering me."

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So naturally she asks him to turn around

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or close his eyes while she undresses.

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"Would you please turn around?"

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"Why?"

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"Just turn around."

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"Just look,

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look over there for a second."

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"Yeah."

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"Just turn around and look at the

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waterfalls Skippy all right, please?"

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"Fine."

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"Stay in guard, no peeking."

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Does our protagonist respects her wishes?

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Of course not.

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"Don't look!"

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"I said your eyes have to go over there!"

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Most of the time, he peeks anyway

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"Turn around!"

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"Now!"

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"Turn around."

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and there are rarely any consequences

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for violating her trust.

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In fact his trangression

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is likely to be rewarded.

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Now sometimes the women character will

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explicitely ask not to be looked at,

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while in other examples it's just implied

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that the guy shouldn't be staring.

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It's incredibly rare to see a man who,

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given the opportunity, doesn't peek.

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"Don't look."

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"Okay."

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If it’s a romantic story, the transgression is
often presented as a sign that he’s attracted to her.

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In reality though,

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if a man demonstrates a deliberate disregard for consent or women’s boundaries

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that should be a major major red flag.

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"Drop dead, dirtbag."

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Even though Invasive spying is often considered
just a nuisance crime by law enforcement,

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being spied-on isn’t a minor inconvenience for the victims

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"Hello"

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it can cause real lasting emotional harm.

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"Someone there?"

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"That's it, I can almost see it."

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Sometimes peeping scenes are
filmed in a family-friendly way

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"There she is."

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while in other media it can be much more explicit.

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In fact throughout this video essay

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I’ve had to use a lot of creative editing techniques
and strategic blurring

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just to make the footage appropriate for YouTube.

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"Oh, you imp. You've got nudity in there!"

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Despite what some conservative groups
would have you believe,

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the problem here is not the depiction
of sex or nudity on-screen.

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Depending on how it’s framed, sex and nudity can be represented in all kinds of ways.

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"Should be fine."

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The real issues with the
“Harmless” Peeping Tom trope

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stems from the lack of consent

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between the characters in the story

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and how those violations
are framed as “no big deal.”

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"Did you see me change 
out of my clothes by the Jacuzzi?"

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"I thought that you were catatonic."

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There’s a common misconception that voyeurism is,
by definition, looking without permission.

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But that is not true.

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Voyeurism can, and I’d argue should, be a consensual act.

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It is, of course, possible to film scenes,
even voyeuristic ones,

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where characters look at each other
in consensual ways.

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"Steve..."

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But cinematic depictions of consensual gazing

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are not anywhere near as prevalent as scenes
where permission has not been granted.

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Up until this point, we’ve been discussing
the perspective of characters on-scene

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but there’s another critical perspective
we haven’t yet considered.

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00:11:19,869 --> 00:11:23,299
And that is the perspective of the camera.

277
00:11:24,342 --> 00:11:28,429
Let’s return for a moment to that
“normal” boys bedroom from earlier.

278
00:11:28,528 --> 00:11:32,101
Although, it’s not a “normal” bedroom, is it?

279
00:11:32,384 --> 00:11:34,552
It’s really a movie set.

280
00:11:34,669 --> 00:11:37,567
And that’s not really a “normal” boy either,

281
00:11:37,661 --> 00:11:40,884
that’s an actor working from a script.

282
00:11:40,977 --> 00:11:46,204
In fact, everything we see here is
a deliberate choice by the filmmakers.

283
00:11:46,580 --> 00:11:49,272
The woman is being put on display by the director

284
00:11:49,356 --> 00:11:54,119
who is careful to position her body
so the protagonist can get a good look.

285
00:11:54,225 --> 00:12:00,201
But the shots are also designed so
the audience gets to peek along with him.

286
00:12:00,723 --> 00:12:02,003
"Mr. Bishop, do you mind if I take a look?"

287
00:12:02,088 --> 00:12:02,788
"Carl..."

288
00:12:02,883 --> 00:12:06,016
This then makes the viewer complicit.

289
00:12:06,146 --> 00:12:11,734
We are made to vicariously participate
in the act of non-consensual looking.

290
00:12:11,837 --> 00:12:13,707
"Really, 007?"

291
00:12:14,420 --> 00:12:18,139
This is true, incidentally,
even when the character doing the peeping

292
00:12:18,237 --> 00:12:20,846
is clearly meant to be a creep.

293
00:12:22,204 --> 00:12:27,164
There’s another important conversation to be had
about what film theorist Laura Mulvey called

294
00:12:27,270 --> 00:12:29,194
“the male gaze”

295
00:12:29,283 --> 00:12:35,557
especially as it relates to how the camera moves
and frames women’s bodies in a sexualized way

296
00:12:35,657 --> 00:12:39,214
independent of the protagonist’s point of view.

297
00:12:39,650 --> 00:12:45,287
But for our purposes here,
we’re mostly focusing on the characters in the story.

298
00:12:45,705 --> 00:12:50,423
The audience for movies is, of course,
made up of people of all genders,

299
00:12:50,538 --> 00:12:54,587
but the male character’s perspective
is the one we are sharing

300
00:12:54,703 --> 00:12:59,554
and therefore it’s his lurid excitement
we are meant to identify with.

301
00:13:01,176 --> 00:13:06,448
Just to reiterate, narratively speaking,
these women don’t know they’re being watched

302
00:13:06,571 --> 00:13:09,053
and therefore haven’t given consent.

303
00:13:13,341 --> 00:13:15,266
Not to put too fine a point on it,

304
00:13:15,364 --> 00:13:19,124
but the reason these scenes are
supposed to be titillating to the viewer

305
00:13:19,251 --> 00:13:24,256
is precisely because the looking
is being done without permission.

306
00:13:25,130 --> 00:13:28,190
"It's like we're seeing something
we're not supposed to be seeing

307
00:13:28,453 --> 00:13:30,956
which is kind of why it makes it so f***ing hot."

308
00:13:31,813 --> 00:13:36,051
All the actors involved in these productions have,
presumably,

309
00:13:36,147 --> 00:13:40,189
agreed to be represented in the ways we see on-screen,

310
00:13:40,277 --> 00:13:45,317
but fictional representations can still help
normalize non-consensual behavior.

311
00:13:45,410 --> 00:13:46,776
"Good afternoon!"

312
00:13:47,921 --> 00:13:51,232
It’s worth quickly noting
the particular type of actress

313
00:13:51,325 --> 00:13:56,144
that filmmakers like to cast as the object of
men’s voyeuristic attention.

314
00:13:57,597 --> 00:14:02,984
Usually she’s young, thin, white,
and conventionally attractive.

315
00:14:03,941 --> 00:14:06,902
It’s such a well established pattern in Hollywood

316
00:14:06,991 --> 00:14:11,161
that whenever the victim differs from
that very specific expectation,

317
00:14:11,401 --> 00:14:12,521
"Gotcha!"

318
00:14:12,862 --> 00:14:15,384
the scene is used as a gross-out punchline

319
00:14:15,499 --> 00:14:17,764
"A man!"

320
00:14:19,215 --> 00:14:21,318
or a transphobic joke.

321
00:14:21,860 --> 00:14:24,260
"That dude looks like a lady."

322
00:14:24,792 --> 00:14:27,405
"Hey, wow! Look in that window!"

323
00:14:27,535 --> 00:14:31,857
Scenes where boys surreptitiously
spy on girls or women

324
00:14:31,979 --> 00:14:35,699
are especially common in coming-of-age stories.

325
00:14:36,507 --> 00:14:41,046
In these type of narratives spying is
often presented as a rite-of-passage,

326
00:14:41,170 --> 00:14:43,605
"Holy Christ!"

327
00:14:43,712 --> 00:14:48,175
as just an inevitable part of
young men’s sexual awakening.

328
00:14:53,484 --> 00:14:55,573
The boys may be initially presented

329
00:14:55,702 --> 00:15:00,252
as shy, awkward, or cowardly
where women are concerned.

330
00:15:01,011 --> 00:15:06,438
And it’s through their peeping behavior
that they’re able to gain self-confidence.

331
00:15:08,625 --> 00:15:11,089
According to the visual language of cinema,

332
00:15:11,195 --> 00:15:15,791
spying on girls is a formative experience for boys,

333
00:15:15,956 --> 00:15:20,862
so much so that it takes on an almost
spiritual significance.

334
00:15:21,141 --> 00:15:24,914
In this way the transition
from boyhood into manhood

335
00:15:25,025 --> 00:15:28,837
is built on a violation of women’s bodies.

336
00:15:29,866 --> 00:15:34,455
"She was really deep in thought because
she left herself unguarded a few times,

337
00:15:35,381 --> 00:15:41,450
and I got to see halfway up her thighs that
led up to the golden palace of the Himalayas."

338
00:15:41,940 --> 00:15:45,912
Sometimes the boys are presented
as melancholy loners,

339
00:15:45,993 --> 00:15:51,187
but in other scenarios peeping is
framed as a social activity.

340
00:15:52,412 --> 00:15:54,856
" Her hands are moving down."
"I gotta see this!"

341
00:15:55,712 --> 00:15:57,854
The act of objectifying women

342
00:15:59,201 --> 00:16:02,545
then becomes a bonding experience for young men.

343
00:16:02,762 --> 00:16:07,263
An experience that also reinforces their shared
sense of male dominance.

344
00:16:07,384 --> 00:16:09,559
"Bag it and spank it, boys."

345
00:16:11,074 --> 00:16:12,136
"Shit, get down!"

346
00:16:15,970 --> 00:16:20,239
Now, don’t get me wrong,
sexual curiosity is completely normal,

347
00:16:20,344 --> 00:16:22,929
however non-consensual behavior

348
00:16:23,016 --> 00:16:27,313
should never be confused
for healthy sexual exploration.

349
00:16:28,173 --> 00:16:32,423
The default should always be
an expectation of privacy.

350
00:16:32,575 --> 00:16:33,747
"Dude, I'm changing."

351
00:16:33,884 --> 00:16:34,944
"Ah, sorry!"

352
00:16:36,201 --> 00:16:40,974
In John Berger’s 1972 TV series “Ways of Seeing”

353
00:16:41,074 --> 00:16:44,523
he observes that the act of looking isn’t passive.

354
00:16:44,900 --> 00:16:46,350
It’s active.

355
00:16:47,324 --> 00:16:49,392
Men dream of women,

356
00:16:49,484 --> 00:16:52,857
women dream of themselves being dreamt of.

357
00:16:53,373 --> 00:16:55,052
Men look at women,

358
00:16:55,162 --> 00:16:58,369
women watch themselves being looked at

359
00:16:58,962 --> 00:17:03,550
I don’t want to deny the crucial part
that seeing plays in sexuality,

360
00:17:03,647 --> 00:17:05,733
but there’s a great difference in being seen,

361
00:17:05,833 --> 00:17:08,843
as oneself naked,
or being seen by another in that way,

362
00:17:08,943 --> 00:17:11,613
and a body being put on display.

363
00:17:11,716 --> 00:17:16,738
Berger was talking about society
as reflected in European oil paintings,

364
00:17:16,829 --> 00:17:21,075
but the observation could just as
easily be applied to cinema.

365
00:17:22,465 --> 00:17:25,405
The male characters are active and fully dressed,

366
00:17:25,503 --> 00:17:27,925
while the women are passive and exposed,

367
00:17:28,012 --> 00:17:33,152
unprepared to be seen,
and therefore framed as vulnerable.

368
00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:40,192
This sets up an automatic power dynamic
wherein the man has the upper-hand.

369
00:17:42,166 --> 00:17:45,065
The message these scenarios
send to women and girls

370
00:17:45,181 --> 00:17:48,964
is that being spied on should be taken
as a compliment,

371
00:17:49,060 --> 00:17:50,341
"So you were watching me."

372
00:17:51,538 --> 00:17:54,214
"But for how long? Just tonight?"

373
00:17:54,567 --> 00:17:57,371
"A week, two weeks since I moved in?"

374
00:17:57,481 --> 00:18:02,016
because men’s sexual attention is
always supposed to be flattering,

375
00:18:02,126 --> 00:18:05,414
regardless of whether or not
those feelings are reciprocated.

376
00:18:05,527 --> 00:18:07,287
"That's either the creepiest

377
00:18:10,045 --> 00:18:14,022
or the sweetest thing I have ever heard."

378
00:18:18,364 --> 00:18:22,479
In her essay “Intrusions”
author Melissa Febos explains that

379
00:18:22,598 --> 00:18:28,928
"Just as these productions encourage men to believe
that stalking and peeping are acceptable forms of courtship,

380
00:18:29,039 --> 00:18:30,960
likely to resolve in a love match,

381
00:18:31,066 --> 00:18:35,773
so do they prescribe to women
a desire to be the object of such behavior.”

382
00:18:36,773 --> 00:18:38,520
"Think maybe I ought to pull this curtain.

383
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:40,832
There seems to someone staring
at you from across the court."

384
00:18:40,832 --> 00:18:42,468
"Oh, no. Don't do that.

385
00:18:42,507 --> 00:18:44,462
My girlfriend and I,
we never pull the curtain."

386
00:18:44,578 --> 00:18:46,058
"We just have a ball with him."

387
00:18:46,197 --> 00:18:48,776
In the movies and tv shows
we’ve been discussing

388
00:18:48,874 --> 00:18:51,992
it’s not uncommon for the woman
who is being sped on

389
00:18:52,093 --> 00:18:57,351
to indicate to the audience
that she secretly enjoys this violation.

390
00:18:58,700 --> 00:19:02,003
The underlying implication is clear,

391
00:19:02,115 --> 00:19:04,190
to be desired by men

392
00:19:04,286 --> 00:19:06,768
is what gives women value.

393
00:19:06,855 --> 00:19:08,499
"Well, I think you should call the police!"

394
00:19:08,609 --> 00:19:11,198
"Oh, no! That would spoil everything."

395
00:19:11,268 --> 00:19:13,430
"After all, he's been so patient,

396
00:19:13,430 --> 00:19:14,808
it only seems fair.

397
00:19:15,518 --> 00:19:16,871
That dangerous message is

398
00:19:16,967 --> 00:19:21,118
compounded by another idea
baked into these scenes:

399
00:19:22,852 --> 00:19:29,307
that when it comes to sexual desire, men and boys
“just can’t control themselves.”

400
00:19:31,383 --> 00:19:35,462
As if men are compelled by
some invisible force of nature

401
00:19:35,555 --> 00:19:38,422
to infringe upon women’s bodies.

402
00:19:38,725 --> 00:19:41,207
The myth is not true, of course.

403
00:19:41,334 --> 00:19:44,937
Men and boys can in fact control their urges.

404
00:19:45,053 --> 00:19:46,113
"Hold up!"

405
00:19:47,540 --> 00:19:50,574
Still, media reinforces the myth that

406
00:19:50,683 --> 00:19:53,830
“men aren’t responsible for their own actions,”

407
00:19:53,926 --> 00:19:56,986
occasionally by transforming the peeping tom

408
00:19:57,086 --> 00:20:01,840
into a hapless victim
of the woman’s seductive trap.

409
00:20:02,154 --> 00:20:05,664
Here’s Melissa Febos again
from her essay “Intrusions”

410
00:20:05,874 --> 00:20:08,449
“It is also a narrative that exonerates men.

411
00:20:08,556 --> 00:20:12,397
The more plausible it seems
that women are always performing,

412
00:20:12,497 --> 00:20:15,321
the less indictable the watching.”

413
00:20:15,430 --> 00:20:18,629
"Next thing you know, 
she starts deliberately undressing

414
00:20:18,719 --> 00:20:21,092
in front of the window, with the lights on."

415
00:20:21,099 --> 00:20:22,819
"It's like she knew I was watching her."

416
00:20:23,686 --> 00:20:26,093
It should be ludicrous on its face

417
00:20:26,186 --> 00:20:30,590
to blame women for men’s illicit spying

418
00:20:30,819 --> 00:20:34,009
but movies consistently leave us
with the impression

419
00:20:34,156 --> 00:20:38,685
that it’s the woman’s fault
for allowing herself to be seen,

420
00:20:38,793 --> 00:20:42,246
even when undressing
in the privacy of her own home.

421
00:20:43,011 --> 00:20:45,496
"Oh, god. You saw me?"

422
00:20:45,575 --> 00:20:49,213
"You weren't trying to entice me with your nakedness?"

423
00:20:49,592 --> 00:20:50,803
"No, no!

424
00:20:50,926 --> 00:20:55,274
And you actually thought I wanted
to have sex with you?"

425
00:20:58,580 --> 00:21:00,918
Everything we’ve been discussing in this video

426
00:21:01,014 --> 00:21:05,702
is part of a larger culture of male entitlement.

427
00:21:07,039 --> 00:21:09,690
Too many men in our society have been taught

428
00:21:09,774 --> 00:21:14,222
that women’s bodies should
always be available to them.

429
00:21:14,915 --> 00:21:19,687
Available to be evaluated,
to be judged, to be compared,

430
00:21:19,789 --> 00:21:24,811
and to be used as fuel in their personal fantasies.

431
00:21:25,753 --> 00:21:28,896
"I believe I'm going to think about her
before I go to sleep tonight."

432
00:21:29,028 --> 00:21:31,814
"Anybody thinks about her,
it's gonna be me."

433
00:21:32,150 --> 00:21:33,771
By this twisted logic,

434
00:21:33,869 --> 00:21:37,365
any woman who chooses not to put herself on display

435
00:21:37,484 --> 00:21:41,441
is then taking away men’s “right to look.”

436
00:21:41,539 --> 00:21:43,814
"Oh, come on.
Don't go in the other room!

437
00:21:43,902 --> 00:21:44,802
Oh, man."

438
00:21:44,902 --> 00:21:46,333
At the end of the day,

439
00:21:46,446 --> 00:21:50,688
the “Harmless” Peeping Tom trope
is anything but harmless,

440
00:21:50,829 --> 00:21:54,290
because it works to reinforce
that sense of entitlement

441
00:21:54,408 --> 00:21:56,482
by telling us again and again that

442
00:21:56,602 --> 00:22:00,676
“nice guys” deserve access to women’s bodies.

443
00:22:00,778 --> 00:22:04,242
"Did you sneak a peek
at my goods?"

444
00:22:05,139 --> 00:22:08,432
"I wouldn't be much of a hero if I did."

445
00:22:08,555 --> 00:22:11,430
"Yeah, but it's okay if you peeked a little."

446
00:22:11,556 --> 00:22:14,490
"You deserve a peek for 
all the good stuff you do."

447
00:22:15,026 --> 00:22:19,176
And that therefore
permission isn’t strictly necessary.

448
00:22:19,270 --> 00:22:20,835
"Better view of my room that I thought."

449
00:22:20,929 --> 00:22:22,444
"I've never seen you naked."

450
00:22:23,751 --> 00:22:24,878
"It's too bad."

451
00:22:25,549 --> 00:22:27,269
"I've got a great body."

452
00:22:27,749 --> 00:22:30,266
"Turn around. Turn!"

453
00:22:31,106 --> 00:22:33,436
"You're just a man,
like all the others."

454
00:22:34,404 --> 00:22:40,369
In recent years we have seen a rise in
gender-flipped variations of the trope.

455
00:22:40,871 --> 00:22:46,367
While these spying moments do invert
the expected subject/object dynamics,

456
00:22:46,905 --> 00:22:51,878
simply switching-up the genders where
non-consensual behavior is concerned,

457
00:22:51,976 --> 00:22:54,884
does not magically fix the problem.

458
00:22:56,432 --> 00:22:59,429
Because it still reinforces that worldview

459
00:22:59,581 --> 00:23:05,492
where respecting someone’s wishes in regards to
their own body isn’t important.

460
00:23:05,615 --> 00:23:07,684
As the old saying goes,

461
00:23:07,845 --> 00:23:11,216
two wrongs do not make a right.

462
00:23:12,856 --> 00:23:17,793
Learning about consent as it relates to looking,
and not just touching, is essential,

463
00:23:17,897 --> 00:23:19,436
"Oh, my god."

464
00:23:19,476 --> 00:23:20,356
"What?"

465
00:23:20,436 --> 00:23:22,916
especially given the reality of social media

466
00:23:22,987 --> 00:23:27,182
and the growing problem of intimate images
shared without persimmon.

467
00:23:27,288 --> 00:23:28,456
"I can have this?"

468
00:23:28,562 --> 00:23:31,173
"Yes. It's for you."

469
00:23:31,625 --> 00:23:35,372
"Because you're the only man
I ever want to gaze upon my body."

470
00:23:35,829 --> 00:23:39,993
In today’s digital world,
the private photos or videos of women

471
00:23:40,089 --> 00:23:43,147
can be a social currency among boys and men.

472
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,760
"A picture's worth a thousand words."

473
00:23:45,899 --> 00:23:49,559
A currency that can grant a guy status
among his peers

474
00:23:49,634 --> 00:23:50,344
"That's hot!"

475
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:54,736
by providing evidence of a woman’s submission
to his sexual desire.

476
00:23:54,854 --> 00:23:55,956
"It's not looking good, Tom."

477
00:23:56,086 --> 00:23:57,986
"I just sent it to one other guy, because

478
00:23:58,062 --> 00:24:00,142
he didn't believe that I'd had sex with Ruby."

479
00:24:00,279 --> 00:24:04,429
Again we see how the act of exposing women’s bodies,
without permission,

480
00:24:04,536 --> 00:24:07,287
becomes a way for men to bond with each other

481
00:24:07,381 --> 00:24:10,508
over their shared sense of male entertainment.

482
00:24:16,584 --> 00:24:20,707
TV shows like Euphoria,
Sex Education, and Stargirl

483
00:24:20,818 --> 00:24:25,460
have all attempted to address the issue
of unauthorized image sharing.

484
00:24:25,591 --> 00:24:30,634
Unfortunately some TV writers
just can’t resist adding a big plot twist

485
00:24:30,731 --> 00:24:33,780
wherein it turns out the culprit is a “mean girl”

486
00:24:33,893 --> 00:24:37,307
rather than the far more common situation in real-life

487
00:24:37,401 --> 00:24:41,188
where the culprit is a current or ex-romantic partner.

488
00:24:42,347 --> 00:24:45,081
"Joseph Lyman showed us
the picture you gave him."

489
00:24:45,522 --> 00:24:46,181
"What?"

490
00:24:46,277 --> 00:24:48,358
"Oh, your nude self portrait.

491
00:24:48,479 --> 00:24:49,619
He showed it to everyone."

492
00:24:49,689 --> 00:24:50,955
"The whole town's seen it."

493
00:24:51,017 --> 00:24:52,962
"The freaking mayor saw it."

494
00:24:54,411 --> 00:24:56,225
The series Normal People

495
00:24:56,337 --> 00:25:00,703
includes a scene of a guy showing off
a naked picture of his girlfriend.

496
00:25:00,808 --> 00:25:05,370
Rather than being impressed,
the protagonist responds by saying it’s not okay.

497
00:25:05,486 --> 00:25:06,732
"You do not think it's a bit f***ed up,

498
00:25:06,732 --> 00:25:08,352
showing pictures of your girfriend like that?"

499
00:25:08,373 --> 00:25:11,475
The moment is brief
but it is notable for two reasons:

500
00:25:11,589 --> 00:25:13,182
first it’s a rare example of

501
00:25:13,304 --> 00:25:17,792
a man calling out another guy
for non-consensual behavior,

502
00:25:17,905 --> 00:25:24,041
and second because the producers chose
not to show that image to the audience.

503
00:25:24,522 --> 00:25:28,263
Even in media about how it’s wrong to share private images

504
00:25:28,379 --> 00:25:35,278
media makers will often ensure that the audience
gets a clear view of the photos or video in question.

505
00:25:35,386 --> 00:25:38,032
The inclusion of these shots are unnecessary

506
00:25:38,130 --> 00:25:43,387
and again make the viewers complicit
in non-consensual looking.

507
00:25:45,155 --> 00:25:49,478
Just as peeping is never the fault of
the person who’s being spied on,

508
00:25:49,595 --> 00:25:55,969
it’s also never the fault of the people whose
intimate images are distributed without their permission.

509
00:25:56,277 --> 00:25:58,420
The blame should rest entirely

510
00:25:58,538 --> 00:26:02,281
with those sharing or looking without consent.

511
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,378
"You never should've sent him those."

512
00:26:05,062 --> 00:26:07,325
"He never should've shared them."

513
00:26:07,673 --> 00:26:13,251
It’s still very rare to see male characters in media
who honor women’s privacy.

514
00:26:13,362 --> 00:26:16,460
It’s even more rare to see men or boys intervening

515
00:26:16,559 --> 00:26:20,647
to prevent their peers from non-consensual looking

516
00:26:21,542 --> 00:26:24,802
but those are the types of representations
that we need.

517
00:26:24,913 --> 00:26:26,393
"All right, closing."

518
00:26:26,505 --> 00:26:31,075
If we are to build a culture of
affirmative and enthusiastic consent

519
00:26:31,178 --> 00:26:35,488
it’s critical to understanding the ethics of looking.

520
00:26:38,815 --> 00:26:40,318
I hope you enjoyed that video.

521
00:26:40,364 --> 00:26:43,348
As you might imagine,
these long-form video essays

522
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,773
take an enormous amount of time
to write, edit, and produce.

523
00:26:47,313 --> 00:26:49,453
So if you like this kind of media analysis

524
00:26:49,491 --> 00:26:53,961
please consider going over to Patreon
and helping to support this project there.

525
00:26:54,061 --> 00:26:57,537
I've also left a link to Paypal
in the description below.

526
00:26:57,771 --> 00:26:59,935
There are no ads on any of this stuff

527
00:26:59,935 --> 00:27:01,935
and there's no sponsorships either.

528
00:27:02,075 --> 00:27:05,748
Everything is 100% funded
by viewers like you.

529
00:27:05,926 --> 00:27:08,308
Now, we've also got some other
exciting news.

530
00:27:08,350 --> 00:27:10,740
We have recently started a podcast

531
00:27:10,793 --> 00:27:13,793
called Pop Culture
Detective: Audio Files

532
00:27:13,825 --> 00:27:16,368
which is very similar
to the video essays

533
00:27:16,473 --> 00:27:19,457
only with more voices
contributing to the analysis

534
00:27:19,592 --> 00:27:21,602
in a slightly more casual format.

535
00:27:22,288 --> 00:27:25,907
You can listen and subscribe
wherever you get your podcasts from

536
00:27:26,077 --> 00:27:30,800
and I'll make to sure to leave some links
to that below as well, if you're interested.

537
00:27:30,910 --> 00:27:33,702
Now of course, we have some other
video essays in the works.

538
00:27:33,821 --> 00:27:35,291
So stay tuned for those.

539
00:27:35,391 --> 00:27:40,217
And sincerely, thank you all so much
for continuing to support this channel.

540
00:27:40,296 --> 00:27:44,100
It means the world to me, and none of it
would be possible without your support.