Creating Victims And Then Blaming Them (re: the Girls Around Me app)

[redqueen]

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/31/creating-victims-and-then-blaming-them/

(snip)

It is an undoubtedly fascinating story, raising too many issues to discuss in one article. But I found myself with a growing sense of discomfort after reading much of the coverage and discussion surrounding the app. This stemmed from two points that were raised again and again:

1. Our dismay at how publicly exposed these women are and how they need to be educated on the dangers of online privacy.

2. What, exactly, Girls Around Me did wrong. All they did, after all, was hook into various services.

It was the first point that initially raised my hackles, because the tone was too similar to statements I had heard before. Not from those writing about this, but from those who believe that young black men shouldn’t be wearing hoodies, or that single women with two children shouldn’t be out at nightclubs. Those who believe in acceptable standards of behavior for groups of people, and that victims of crimes who deviated from these modes of behavior brought these crimes on.

Victim shaming simmers throughout the coverage, unsaid and unintentional, but so does the worst-case scenarios of sexual assault that remain largely unspoken but very clearly imagined. Unsurprisingly, as this a deeply uncomfortable and controversial subject.

(more...)

[bart95]

1. there's a fine line between warning and blaming

when kids long ago were told not to talk to strangers or to get into cars with strangers, they werent blaming kid who did and got hurt, they were trying to stop it

social media has massive dangers that are barly understood by most who use them

if you think we can stop predators from offshore who use and exploit the privacy of things people post online, feel free to tell u how we will do it

[bart95]

6. 'Girls Beware' a film from 1961

the dangers are not new, nor did they ever go away. the only thing that went away, was common sense in dealing with strangers

[Moonwalk]

2. This is an awesome editorial! K&R!

Thumbs up all the way. Should be required reading for anyone making apps, social websites--and those using such.

[adigal]

3. I am confused as to who thinks what is bad here

but I must say, as a mother of a daughter who is almost 18, that people can track where she is based on being on Facebook scares the daylights out of me. Has nothing to do with blaming her if something bad ever happened, God forbid. I just agree that young women, and men, need to be more cognizant of the dangers of being so accessible online, both personally and with future employers, etc.

[Lucy Goosey]

4. I hadn't heard of Girls Around Me; thanks for posting this.

[jeff47]

5. I think this commentary is a little off-target

Consider what these statements about education imply. What is the result the educators want after these people have been educated?

To realize what posting information about yourself publicly really means.

And what if those educated choose to continue their behavior?

Then they're making an educated decision, instead of not knowing just what they were broadcasting.

What of those who decide to live in public? The camgirls we have met? The ones that share their lives with abandon?

Personally, I think they need some psychological counseling, but they're free to do so.

While a person 'living publicly' isn't 'fair game', this editorial kinda goes too far in considering that the only issue.

IMO, the anger should be directed at social media sites that make it easy to be public, and hard to be private. Killing "Girls Around Me" doesn't suddenly make the information disappear. Facebook and Foursquare still display it. It will just take a few minutes to manually put the two together. And cheering the death of that app while not educating people, because that would be "victim blaming", means people are being far more public than they realize.

They are not able to make the educated decision to be public. Teaching them isn't blaming the victim. It's letting them choose what they wish to do.