In the news this week, Rihanna, a popular singer is in the spotlight for the leak of her nude pictures. The pictures were allegedly taken from her handphone and were leaked on the internet. Besides Rihanna, over the years other celebrities such as Cassie, Vanessa Hudgens, Paris Hilton and Edison Chan have had their nude pictures or sex tapes stolen from their personal computers without their knowledge and leaked on the internet. Some critics claim that the stars were solely responsible for the leak with the intention of raising their flagging popularity. For whatever reasons the leaks occurred, the growing trend of these incidents should be curbed and not repeated.
Even if this is easier said than done, celebrities need to take responsibility for their actions and guard their personal photos well. This is mainly due to the huge influence they have on their fans and teenagers all around the world.
In the study of Communications, the social constructionist perspective states that communication creates an individual. In this case, with the influx of media exposure on the leak of celebrities’ nude pictures, teens are influenced by what they see and hear of the world around them and they may be led to believe that posting nude photos of themselves on the internet is ok. Teens might even emulate their behaviour.
In USA, a study done by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy concluded that one in five teens including young adults admitted to sending or posting nude or semi nude pictures of themselves. For some teens, their actions have led to tragic endings. An 18 yr old committed suicide after being harassed and taunted in school after sending nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend which was leaked.
In a conservative society like Singapore, most teenagers still hold true to their moral values and beliefs and view the actions of the celebrities negatively. However due to the heavy influence of American culture and media exposure, teenagers might have a different view of this issue in the future. Teenagers need to understand that taking nude pictures and sharing them is wrong as it could lead to humiliation and shame.
Therefore celebrities who are role models to millions of teenagers all around the world should refrain from any explicit behaviour and focus on improving their own unique talents instead.
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ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think that we sometimes are led by decisions made for us by the society without even realising it.
ReplyDeletein general, i consider myself as someone who leans towards the conservative end of the spectrum when it comes to moral values. i do not see myself posting up any nude pictures on the internet either in the near or distant future.
In the beginning of the entry, i agreed completely with parvin that taking nude pictures & posting them online was wrong.
But as i continued reading, it occurred to me that the society has decided for us that taking nude pictures & posting them online was wrong.
I vaguely recall watching a documentary where people in tribal areas in africa walked around naked in celebration of their bodies. no one saw it as lewd or shameless. this is again an example of how their society has conditioned them into thinking that being proud of their bodies was the norm.
this example has really brought home the point for me that there isnt really a 'reality' after all. just standards & norms laid out for us by our society that we conform to (:
It is an intesting fact that the standards and norms laid out for us in our society has conformed us to believe that exposing ourselves is wrong as opposed to the norms in the tribal areas in africa.
ReplyDeleteI would like to add that the standards and norms that are created by society usually stems from various factors such as religious belieifs, culture and tradition. These factors are different for different countries and societies. Also, i feel that we do not necessarily conform to these standards and norms but understand them and practise them in our daily lives and this in turn becomes a reality for us.
Have you ever wondered what makes a celebrity? It's never their looks or skills they have but us, the ever famous FANS.
ReplyDeleteWhen Rihanna first came to Singapore to perform, she was performing to a sold out crowd here. Isn’t that why she is so famous? That was the first thing that came to my mind when i saw the video. Fans become bored just seeing her perform that she had to add more spice into her life by being abused by Chris brown and leaking out her nude pictures. It doesn't really matter if she posted the nude pictures online herself or it got leaked. The news of her nude pictures will send every fans of hers, male or female, trying to get a glimpse of them.
Everyone knows that the fastest way of getting famous is posing nude. But the bold truth is that you’ll lose your fans even faster then you can wink an eye.
I personally feel that taking nude pictures of yourself is perfectly fine. especially if it is to spice up one's dwindling relationship. I think the main problem here is the respect of privacy.
ReplyDeletethe people who leaked out these pictures did not consider that their actions could lead to someone's death, as stated in parvin's entry.
I suggest harsher punishments for culprits who leak such photos. death sentence if possible.
I feel that we are displaying ethnocentrism as we have subconsiously allowed ourselves to believe that our culture is the "right" one and think that those who do not choose to behave according to the rule set by this set of thinking is wrong and ought to be punished.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in the case where celebrities are involved, I guess they still have to bear certain responsibilities, as once the photos are leaked out, they no longer represent themselves just as an individual. Celebrities have to see themselves as role models for the public. They can choose to go against the "rules" set by the general culture of the society in private, but once that is exposed to the public, these well known people have to be aware that they are setting bad examples or are even being encouraging to a group of ignorant people who might be imitating their actions just for the sake of following what they think is "fashion" and "latest trends".
Firstly, i wouldnt blame rihanna and ALL the other celabs who do this be it intented or not.I am more interested in the:
ReplyDeletewat made them behave the way they did?
how was their enviroment, development and influence like growing up?
wat was their need at that point in time?
where did they learn to do this?
which of the factors lead them to choose the way they behaved?
wat is their value systerm like?
how much is their iq, eq, aq, n sq?
secondly, are u sure singapore is a conservative society? if so? which part?
thirdly,which group of teenagers are u implining being negatively influenced by the celabs?
fourthly,i personally agree with u wat rihana did was wrong.but i wont judge her
I agree with the critics claims that the stars were solely responsible for the leak with the intention of raising their flagging popularity. They become over night famous celebrity after revealing of the nude photo. How irresponsible they can be to loss data from their own personal gadget? I agree with parveen's view that teenagers idolize the celebrities. They follow every single action of their such as dressing, walking, etc etc. So the celebrities have huge responsibilities. They should act with some moral values and must have good habits which they can pass on to their fans and make the society a better place.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic that we need to explore as we all know that the explicit nudity of celebrities from mass media could be influencing youngsters values, believes and norms. I strongly feel that these celebrities should be ware that their behaviors are affecting ten and thousands of teenagers around the world!
ReplyDelete