I’m obsessed with the Hunger Games, and I’m even more obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence. She is the real life GIRL ON FIRE. She rocks a side braid better than everyone else, she’s gives the most HILARIOUS interviews, says the best things, and is completely a girl out of my own heart. She’s been a role model for young girls and women in regards to feminism, body image, and embodying the traits of a strong and independent woman. All fan-girling aside though, Jennifer Lawrence completely broke my heart after the whole celebrity nude picture leak scandal.
Don’t get me wrong – I think what happened to her was AWFUL and I am in absolutely no means justifying and offering validity to the horrible hacker’s actions. It was an invasion of privacy, it was an invasion of her rights, and it was an unlawful and unpermitted distribution of pornography. However, it was her explanation as to why she took nude pictures that disappointed me, and for several reasons, too.
J-Law released a statement not too long after the scandal occurred in an attempt to justify her actions to the general public, stating, “I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”
Let’s break this down for a second. I’d first like to offer a compliment. I’m glad she chose not to apologize because she absolutely does not have to apologize for her actions. To take this one step further, though, I do not even think she had to offer ANY sort of explanation to the general public. In my opinion, she should not even have to explain what happened in her own personal relationship. I do not care if she is a celebrity and in the limelight. Relationships are a personal thing between two people, and nobody has the right to encroach on the intimate actions of two able and consenting adults, providing that no laws are being broken.
However, I feel as though the second part of the statement sends all the progressions made by feminists and society back in time and sends young girls across the globe the wrong message about the role of a woman in a healthy relationship. I’m not speaking out of ignorance. I’m in a long-term relationship myself and trust me, nothing is harder than keeping that intimate spark between two people when you are so far away from one another, especially when it is uncertain as to when you will see each other.
In a healthy, long-distance relationship though, a woman should not have to feel obligated to send racy or naked photos of themselves in order to keep their significant other’s interests. If you truly feel secure about your relationship, then you should not feel intimidated by the fact that your boyfriend is watching pornography in order to fulfill his own personal needs (trust me, I think there is a lot of things wrong with the porn industry, but that is a different battle for a different occasion).
The point is, J-Law, you’re a multi-million dollar celebrity and one of the most gorgeous women on the planet, and you’re feeling insecure about the fact that your boyfriend is looking at other women who will never even compare to you or who you are? The things these women do and look like are unrealistic, and if he likes them more than you then, honey, send him out the door!
What does this tell young girls who look up to and worship you? Does it tell them that they have to do the same in order to keep their boyfriends? Don’t you see the problem with what you said? The distribution of childhood pornography from leaked naked pictures of young girls is a huge problem in America, and ruins the lives of everyone involved. Teach them a sense of privacy, a respect for their own bodies, and what is a realistic expectation in a relationship.
J-Law is and always will be my favorite actress out there. I just wish she had taken a stronger approach to the whole situation. Although I am so sympathetic of the situation she is in, I think she needs to understand the position of power she is in, and could have turned the situation into a learning experience for young girls.
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Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair. Photographs were taken by Patrick Demarchelier and Styled by Jessica Diehl.