Feminism, leaked porn and other random topics...
Ok, this is mostly about the feminism and leaked porn, and in some ways the two are linked.
Firstly, before I say anything else which might be misinterpreted, I support equal rights and I wish the world were a safe enough place that we could store our naked pics in the cloud with some assurance of safety. I therefore don't condone the actions taken.
That being said... perhaps some good will come of this. I doubt it. But perhaps. What I see coming out of this is celebrities appalled that they did something stupid and it didn't turn out the way they wanted it too. When this happens to non-celebrities no one hears about it and nothing is generally done unless/until someone commits suicide or goes on a murderous rampage. But, at the heart of it all is a failure to educate people about internet security. If we're lucky, out of this unfortunate event, people will finally realize that if they don't want people seeing naked pictures of them, they shouldn't upload them to the internet.
Basically, the nude photo leak was basically a brute force hack against easy to guess account names with simple passwords based on the way Apple describes it. And frankly, I see no reason to doubt their claims. While using cryptic account names often defeats the purpose, the simple passwords is a little worrisome, but believable as I have discovered a fair share of passwords in my time, and I suspect many others of using overly simple passwords (like son/daughters name and year of birth, etc...).
But, is simply using a better password or even 2 factor authentication strong enough to really keep your data safe? I think the OpenSSL bug recently speaks to the kinds of ways in which even that isn't enough protection. We often find out too late that the supposedly un-crack-able safeguards are either bypass-able or flawed. Meaning, to the right people we might as well have no passwords on our accounts. The other easy source of data breaches would rogue internal users.
I was raised well with regards to the internet and privacy. I don't actually care much about the strength of my passwords (though I think they are reasonable) primarily because I make a number of smart moves that mitigate the amount of damage I can face from a compromised account. The most important being don't put anything online you don't want falling into the wrong hands. Be that photos, status updates or general information.
How this all ties into feminism is that the leaks seem to all be of female celebrities, and comments are making it about feminism. From the threats against Emma Watson who is currently speaking out to those commenting specifically on rights women should have over who sees them naked.
Which leads me to that word "feminism". In its latest incarnation, the claim is that it is just another way of wording "equality". But then, why not call it the "equality" movement?
Equality isn't about women having the same rights as men. It is about any one person having the same rights as any other person. The difference is subtle, but meaningful. And the word feminism to me sounds like it implies the former and not the latter.
Part of the problem of course is that there is no clear, widely accepted definition. And, in the absence of one, people will continue to construe the word as they will. Which, in general leads to more people making equality about getting more "things" for women as a means to an end rather than ensuring the progress they make benefits everyone equally. And when I say "everyone" and "equally" I don't simply mean that it levels the playing field for both men and women. I mean that it truly strives to bring equality across all barriers.
The funny thing about claiming feminism is about equality is that the word is CLEARLY references gender inequality. The problem being, that is NOT the only form of inequality out there.
Don't claim feminism is about equality. It isn't. At best, it is about gender equality. Don't drop that very important qualifying word, otherwise you're deluding yourself and lying to others. At worst, feminism is a movement to advance women's concerns at the cost of all others. Many feminists lie somewhere in the middle.
I think the safest route is, don't bother claiming feminism is anything specific. You can't actually enforce your interpretation on anyone else, and since you have no guarantee that others will uphold your definition you're basically challenging everyone to throw every feminist act that doesn't meet your definition in your face. And no matter what your definition, there is a lot of fodder.
If you want equality and you believe in equality, then say that. Better yet, don't even both saying it, embody it instead. Lead by example.
Firstly, before I say anything else which might be misinterpreted, I support equal rights and I wish the world were a safe enough place that we could store our naked pics in the cloud with some assurance of safety. I therefore don't condone the actions taken.
That being said... perhaps some good will come of this. I doubt it. But perhaps. What I see coming out of this is celebrities appalled that they did something stupid and it didn't turn out the way they wanted it too. When this happens to non-celebrities no one hears about it and nothing is generally done unless/until someone commits suicide or goes on a murderous rampage. But, at the heart of it all is a failure to educate people about internet security. If we're lucky, out of this unfortunate event, people will finally realize that if they don't want people seeing naked pictures of them, they shouldn't upload them to the internet.
Basically, the nude photo leak was basically a brute force hack against easy to guess account names with simple passwords based on the way Apple describes it. And frankly, I see no reason to doubt their claims. While using cryptic account names often defeats the purpose, the simple passwords is a little worrisome, but believable as I have discovered a fair share of passwords in my time, and I suspect many others of using overly simple passwords (like son/daughters name and year of birth, etc...).
But, is simply using a better password or even 2 factor authentication strong enough to really keep your data safe? I think the OpenSSL bug recently speaks to the kinds of ways in which even that isn't enough protection. We often find out too late that the supposedly un-crack-able safeguards are either bypass-able or flawed. Meaning, to the right people we might as well have no passwords on our accounts. The other easy source of data breaches would rogue internal users.
I was raised well with regards to the internet and privacy. I don't actually care much about the strength of my passwords (though I think they are reasonable) primarily because I make a number of smart moves that mitigate the amount of damage I can face from a compromised account. The most important being don't put anything online you don't want falling into the wrong hands. Be that photos, status updates or general information.
How this all ties into feminism is that the leaks seem to all be of female celebrities, and comments are making it about feminism. From the threats against Emma Watson who is currently speaking out to those commenting specifically on rights women should have over who sees them naked.
Which leads me to that word "feminism". In its latest incarnation, the claim is that it is just another way of wording "equality". But then, why not call it the "equality" movement?
Equality isn't about women having the same rights as men. It is about any one person having the same rights as any other person. The difference is subtle, but meaningful. And the word feminism to me sounds like it implies the former and not the latter.
Part of the problem of course is that there is no clear, widely accepted definition. And, in the absence of one, people will continue to construe the word as they will. Which, in general leads to more people making equality about getting more "things" for women as a means to an end rather than ensuring the progress they make benefits everyone equally. And when I say "everyone" and "equally" I don't simply mean that it levels the playing field for both men and women. I mean that it truly strives to bring equality across all barriers.
The funny thing about claiming feminism is about equality is that the word is CLEARLY references gender inequality. The problem being, that is NOT the only form of inequality out there.
Don't claim feminism is about equality. It isn't. At best, it is about gender equality. Don't drop that very important qualifying word, otherwise you're deluding yourself and lying to others. At worst, feminism is a movement to advance women's concerns at the cost of all others. Many feminists lie somewhere in the middle.
I think the safest route is, don't bother claiming feminism is anything specific. You can't actually enforce your interpretation on anyone else, and since you have no guarantee that others will uphold your definition you're basically challenging everyone to throw every feminist act that doesn't meet your definition in your face. And no matter what your definition, there is a lot of fodder.
If you want equality and you believe in equality, then say that. Better yet, don't even both saying it, embody it instead. Lead by example.
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