As if the so-called “leak” of stolen celebrity nudes wasn’t creepy enough, Redditors are now donating to prostate cancer research as an act of penance.
More than $6,000 has been donated “in honour of Jennifer Lawrence” to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Lawrence was one of several female celebrities whose stolen nude photographs were shared online last weekend. Other victims include model Kate Upton and actresses Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kirsten Dunst. One theory is that the hacker, or hackers, exploited a flaw in Apple’s iCloud service though there is some evidence of a long-standing celebrity hacker ring.
Although the images first emerged within the 4chan community, they have been shared with sickening enthusiasm on a Reddit subreddit named “The Fappening” (“fapping” being internet slang for male masturbation). Reddit is now the number one search term on Google Trends.
As that particular subset of the Reddit community creepily relishes in their new masturbation material, it seems that some of them have started to feel a sense of guilt about the complete violation of the women whose photos were stolen.
A “Reddit: The Fappening” page has been set up as part of the Safeway Foundation’s fundraising challenge through the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The Safeway Foundation has pledged to match all donations up to $1 million, meaning that if the Fappening’s money is accepted (unclear at this point) that’s more than $12,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
The Fappening is also the foundation’s current top fundraiser.
But no matter how you slice it, there’s nothing charitable about donating to prostate cancer research after gleefully violating a woman’s privacy. If anything, it’s a continuation of what these Redditors seem to think is a big joke.
“Let’s make this a worthwhile endevour. Jennifer Lawrence has donated to help cure prostate cancer, the least we can do is follow suit for helping us maintain our long-term health by donating. By the hero The Fappening deserves!” wrote the Reddit user who started the trend.
Get it? Research has suggested that ejaculation could help prevent prostate cancer. Not to mention this isn’t even Lawrence’s charity of choice — her name is attached to its own foundation that supports causes like DoSomething.org and The World Food Programme. It’s not without some sick irony that the charity these sticky-handed Redditors chose benefits other men.
Even if the drive raises money for a good cause, it’s born of the same motivations as the leak itself: male pleasure and power at the expense of the safety, privacy and autonomy of women.
