My father used to write his daily diaries. After eight years
since he is gone, when I read them, I understand how much relaxed he would have
felt when he wrote about his day in the office and at home. But these diaries
were his own private possession which he never shared with anyone. Privacy was
a matter personal pride in those days. But with the advent of technologies, the
meaning of privacy has become broader. Documenting every single moment of life has
become a trend now. This has become possible by the ‘selfie’ way.
In my earlier blogs when I wrote about
selfies, I observed that this habit among people newly armed with digital
gadgets may be destructive. My observation still stands strong. Leave the cases
of accidental deaths that had occurred due o selfie- passion. Consider that one
series of photographs of a woman (claimed to be selfie), which became viral in
the web :we saw her gradual change from a happy woman to a battered woman. Social networking sites give the best platform
for selfie lovers because you can share the selfie, no matter how you look. But
selfies have positive as well as
negative sides too. Your gadget is your
best friend when you are a lone traveller to some amazing place where photography
is allowed; your selfie may help you to understand
how much you have lost weight after hard workouts and these are extremely ego
boosting too. A selfie in a new job desk
or in your new uniform can work wonder when you need to boost your energy
towards your work or rekindle the passion to your work. I would not shy away
from saying that even I am also a passionate ‘selfie’ woman. But certain
selfies are not meant to be shared. They are like my father’s diaries, to be
kept as ‘private possession’ only to assess and reassess oneself. One such
category of selfies is definitely ‘sex selfies’. I am yet to explore the
growing literature as why do women in particular allow themselves or their
partners to capture such private moments. In India we can see extremely
opposite views regarding sex. The ancient sculptures in temples depicting
sexual positions are considered as ‘text book samples’ for every human being. We
are the first civilisation to codify sexual postures and habits and the ancient
scripture is still considered as the only authentic book on sex related topics
which is even referred by doctors and even legal researchers when it comes to
explain human psychology and physiology related to sex. But those ancient sculptures
were not ‘selfies’ in true sense. Or were
they? ............ I remember when I was a school student, we visited Odhisha
and got to see such sculptures in one of the ancient temples. I still remember
one of our teachers murmuring to herself saying these may be the sculptor’s own
imagination with his beloved. But even if those were the sculptors’ own imaginations,
their privacy is not infringed because those statues neither resemble anyone,
nor bear the names of anyone.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons that Indian
laws have categorically exempted these sculptures and ancient scriptures from
being called as ‘sexually explicit materials’ or obscene materials. The latest of such laws, S.354C of the Indian
Penal code which speaks about voyeurism as a crime against women, also iterates
the same. A woman has liberty to take ‘selfie’ or allow other to take such
photograph when in a compromising moment. But that must be her ‘private
possession’ as long as she feels it is
not safe to share with public. Sense of privacy therefore matters much when we
need to consider the offensive nature of the ‘selfie’. Also, one must consider
about the perception of others when the selfie is viewed by others. One of my
selfie that I uploaded in my Facebook profile once attracted huge attention
from my friends as well as ‘strangers’. While some praised me for looking different
after shredding weight, some messages
from ‘strangers’ made me feel uneasy as this particular photo of mine was
probably perceived by them as an object
of ‘secret pleasure’. As a researcher, I am aware of the risks of participatory
qualitative research methodology especially when the researcher herself becomes
involved as a participant. As a precautionary measure, I restricted the viewers
to my ‘friends’. But it may be necessary to note that even though I may have
felt uneasy, I may not be able to bring a criminal case on those comments
because they may not qualify as ‘bad speech’. A simple ‘hi beautiful’ from a
stranger would not make the police or the judges believe that the poster had
breached the laws or harmed my modesty as a woman in this internet age. Only when
it falls in the typical categories of
harassing message, or stalking or intimidation etc, that I may be able
to seek the legal help. But that does not mean that women should leave such ‘unwanted
comments’ to form into those typical categories of ‘bad speech’ and suffer
during the ‘gestation period.’ It is always safer to choose the audience and
limit the same.
If women of digital era are aware of their
own ‘privacy goals’ and self respect, selfies can remain wonderful risk free
documents for a long time.
Please Note:
Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations
provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article,
please cite it as “Halder D. (2015), “Selfie......... are we recreating the meaning
of privacy and self respect?
”, 2nd
May,2015, published in http://debaraticyberspace.blogspot.com/
