126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad news

Gathered together in one place, for easy access, an agglomeration of writings and images relevant to the Rapeutation phenomenon.

126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad news

Postby admin » Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:35 am

126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad news
by Evita March
Lecturer of Psychology at Federation University Australia
Evita March does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
25 September 2014

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Image
UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and actor Emma Watson launched the HeForShe Campaign at the United Nations headquarters in New York, 20 September. EPA/JASON SZENES

In less than a week since actor Emma Watson’s stirring United Nations speech on gender inequality, two big things have happened – but you’ve probably only heard about one of them.

The first, which has driven days of global headlines, is that the 24-year-old actor (best known for her role in Harry Potter films) soon copped a backlash, including what appeared to be an online threat to publish naked photos of her. That’s now been shown to be a complicated hoax; more on that and what it has revealed shortly.

The other big thing that’s happened has received far less attention, but it’s much more heartening.

In only a few days, more than 126,000 men and boys have pledged their support for the new HeforShe campaign to end gender inequality – beating the original target of 100,000 supporters.

Image
The map of global #HeforShe supporters as of Thursday 25 September 2014, 4:15pm AEST. http://HeforShe.org/

You can see how many have signed up in your country on the site’s interactive map. The campaign’s male supporters include fellow actors Matt Damon, Patrick Stewart, Russell Crowe and Keifer Sutherland, and now thousands more from around the world.



Watson’s passionate and moving speech at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, above, has already been viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube. You can read it in full here, but highlights include:

I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight I was confused at being called ‘bossy’, because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not. When I was 14, I started being sexualised by certain elements of the press. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn’t want to appear ‘muscly’.


Not limiting the speech to gender difficulties faced by only women, Watson described how gender stereotypes hurt men and boys too:

I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less ‘macho’. In fact, in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49; eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either.


Watson’s speech won a standing ovation inside the UN and even greater applause beyond. But it wasn’t long before her strong stand on gender equality triggered a backlash.

A double hoax

Only a day after her speech, a mysterious website and a blog’s “news” story speculated that a hacker was about to publish naked photographs of Watson, just as happened recently to stars including Jennifer Lawrence.

That sparked a media frenzy.

Image
A hoax “news story”, now removed from the internet, which sparked the global controversy. via Business Insider

The world watched as the website http://www.emmayouarenext.com counted down the hours to when purportedly private photos would be released. Just as disturbing as the website itself were many of the comments about it, including “That feminist bitch Emma is going to show the world she is as much of a whore as any woman", and “She makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH”.

Instead of talking about the content of her speech, social media was ablaze with outrage at hackers, particularly the image-based website 4chan, which appeared to be linked to the Watson attack site.

Finally, on Wednesday September 24, the countdown was supposedly over – but there were no naked photos. Instead, users were directed to rantic.com, a webpage claiming to be devoted to shutting down 4Chan, complete with a petition to US President Barack Obama.

And as if it couldn’t get any weirder, it now appears that even that “advertising company” rantic.com is actually a fake, and the whole thing is the work of a group of serial internet hoaxers known as socialVEVO.

So what have we learnt from this elaborate hoax, which duped millions of people including many in the global news media?

Easy targets

Why was it so easy to believe that anonymous, angry internet “trolls” would immediately recoil at Emma’s suggestion of gender equality, and attack her privacy by publishing naked photos? (If any actually exist, that is.)

Image

Unfortunately, it was easy to believe because too often women are victimised online, particularly in sexualised ways, and particularly when they take a stand on gender equality as Watson did.

It is ironic that in her speech, Watson declared:

I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body.


This is the exact sentiment that was threatened. The fact that this threat was just a hoax – the motives for which are still unclear – does not excuse the manipulation used to generate this attention.

Whether intended or not, the message to women that’s been reinforced over the past few days have been all too clear: speak out and you will be targeted.

And even if the website was a fake, the public response to it – which included vicious and perverse comments about Watson being a whore – were sadly all too real.

But if there is one glimmer of good news out of all this, it’s that the extra attention garnered by the controversy has driven more people – particularly men and boys – to back the HeforShe campaign, on its website and on social media. These are just some of the thousands so far.

Image
Emma Watson: Wonderful men out there. I'm launching a campaign -- #heforshe. Support the women in ur lives and sign up here now! heforshe.org, Sep 21, 2014

Image
"The true wealth of a community is measured by how carefully it listens to its women and how sincerely it values their wisdom. Empowering women empowers us all." -- UNWOMEN
Forest Whitaker: Proud to support the #HeForShe campaign of @UN_Women, Sept 20, 2014

Image
Tom Hiddleston @EmWatson you are impeccable & extraordinary. I stand with you. I believe in gender equality. #heforshe, Sep 23, 2014

Image
OURFC showing support for @HeForShe, Sep 24, 2014

Image
Mark Scott. As a #HeForShe, I'm committed to #genderequality. I invite you to stand with me. @HeForShe bit.ly/1r1V2jA, Sep 24, 2014

Image
Russell Crowe, #heforshe, Sep 23, 2014

But amid so much focus on nude photos and hoaxes, we shouldn’t forget what Watson’s speech was all about: gender inequality.

Too many men and women around the world still live with emotional and social restrictions because of gender stereotypes – and that has to end.

The last word should go to Watson, who answered her critics and her own self-doubts in her speech.

You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing up on stage at the UN? It’s a good question and trust me, I have been asking myself the same thing. I don’t know if I am qualified to be here. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better … English Statesman Edmund Burke said: ‘All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men and women to do nothing.’ In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly — if not me, who? If not now, when?
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: 126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad n

Postby admin » Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:47 am

Emma Watson: Gender equality is your issue too
Date: 20 Sep 2014

Speech by UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson at a special event for the HeForShe campaign, United Nations Headquarters, New York, 20 September 2014

[Check against delivery.]

Today we are launching a campaign called “HeForShe.”

I am reaching out to you because I need your help. We want to end gender inequality—and to do that we need everyone to be involved.

This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible.

I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight I was confused at being called “bossy,” because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not.

When at 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press.

When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn’t want to appear “muscly.”

When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.

Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.

Why is the word such an uncomfortable one?

I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights.

No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.

These rights I consider to be human rights but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. And we need more of those.

And if you still hate the word—it is not the word that is important but the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have been afforded the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been.

In 1995, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the things she wanted to change are still a reality today.

But what stood out for me the most was that only 30 per cent of her audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?

Men—I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too.

Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society despite my needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s.

I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less “macho”—in fact in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49 years of age; eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either.

We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.

If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.

If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are—we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom.

I want men to take up this mantle. So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too—reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves.

You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing up on stage at the UN. It’s a good question and trust me, I have been asking myself the same thing. I don’t know if I am qualified to be here. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.

And having seen what I’ve seen—and given the chance—I feel it is my duty to say something. English Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men and women to do nothing.”

In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly—if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope those words might be helpful.

Because the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children. And at current rates it won’t be until 2086 before all rural African girls will be able to receive a secondary education.

If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists I spoke of earlier.

And for this I applaud you.

We are struggling for a uniting word but the good news is we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen to speak up, to be the "he" for "she". And to ask yourself if not me, who? If not now, when?

Thank you.

- See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/ ... ymcAm.dpuf
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: 126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad n

Postby admin » Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:12 am

Emma Watson nude photo threat a hoax
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
updated 9:34 AM EDT, Wed September 24, 2014

(CNN) -- The threat to release nude photos of actress Emma Watson was an attempt to start a viral marketing campaign to shutter the site 4chan.

After her impassioned speech for gender equality last weekend at the United Nations, Watson faced backlash, including a threat to leak alleged nude photos of the star.

Business Insider reported that an anonymous 4chan user had posted a countdown timer with a picture of the "Harry Potter" actress wiping away a tear hinting that she could become the next star to have her iCloud hacked and personal photos dispersed for the world to see.

Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian and Gabrielle Union are among the celebrities recently to have private, intimate photos splashed across the Internet. The 4chan site is where the hacked, nude photos of these other female stars initially appeared.

On Wednesday, the site mentioned in the anonymous user's posting, EmmaYouAreNext.com, was redirecting to the company Rantic Marketing with the message #ShutDown4chan.

"Join us as we shutdown 4chan and prevent more private pictures from being leaked," a message on the site says. "None of these women deserve this and together we can make a change."

There is also a letter to President Barack Obama that reads, "We have been hired by celebrity publicists to bring this disgusting issue to attention. The recent 4chan celebrity nude leaks in the past 2 months have been an invasion of privacy and is also clear indication that the internet NEEDS to be censored. Every Facebook like, share & Twitter mention will count as a social signature -- and will be one step closer to shutting down www.4chan.org. "

Visitors to the site are offered a link to send the letter to the White House. Rantic bills itself on its site as "a social media marketing enterprise that has participated in some of the most viral campaigns and music videos."

So far there is no evidence that nude pictures of Watson actually exist; 4chan, the online message board, has become known as a place where pranksters previously have posted hoaxes.

Writing for The Washington Post, Soraya Nadia McDonald tied the threat, as well as false Internet reports that Watson had died, to "a long history of this sort of bullying aimed at women on the Internet, especially feminists."

"It's just the latest in a long history of online efforts to intimidate, belittle, threaten and cow women into hiding and shutting up -- the message, of course, being, if you dare to do or say something we don't like, we'll expose you in return," McDonald wrote.

Watson's speech, delivered Saturday as part of her role as a goodwill ambassador for U.N. Women, drew attention for her poignant remarks about the need for equality and for men to embrace feminism.

"If men don't have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won't feel compelled to be submissive," she said. "If men don't have to control, women won't have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. ... It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, not as two opposing sets of ideals."
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: 126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad n

Postby admin » Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:16 am

Internet Trolls Threaten To Release Nude Photos Of Emma Watson After Feminist Speech (UPDATE)
The Huffington Post
By Emily Thomas
Posted: 09/23/2014 4:27 pm EDT Updated: 09/24/2014 10:59 am EDT EMMA WATSON

UPDATE: Sept. 24 -- The website EmmaYouAreNext.com, which previously claimed it would leak nude photos of Emma Watson and was believed to have been created by 4chan users, turned out to be a hoax by social media marketing firm Rantic, which apparently has aims to shut down 4chan. As of Wednesday morning, EmmaYouAreNext.com redirected visitors to Rantic's website.

The thing is, Rantic might not even exist. The company claims to have been hired by celebrity publicists to campaign against the leaking of celebrities' nude photos. But Business Insider reports that Rantic is actually part of a larger online hoax. "Rantic Marketing is a fake company run by a gang of prolific internet spammers used to quickly capitalize on internet trends for page views," writes Business Insider.

Previously:

Internet trolls are threatening to leak nude photos of Emma Watson, in response to a speech on gender equality the actress delivered at the United Nations headquarters over the weekend

Members of the anonymous message board 4chan, largely at the center of the recent hacking schemes that leaked nude photos of celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, have apparently set up a website called EmmaYouAreNext.com. The mostly empty page bears 4chan's logo, a blurry photo of Watson's head and a timer clock counting down to midnight EST on Sept. 24.

An earlier version of the site said the countdown would end later this week. The times have apparently been adjusted.

It's unclear how serious the threat is.

Death and Taxes magazine printed some of the comments that were posted to 4chan after Watson's speech.

"That feminist bitch Emma is going to show the world she is as much of a whore as any woman," one read, in part.

"She makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH," read another.

During her Sept. 20 speech, the 24-year-old Watson, who is the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, explained her personal investment in spreading feminism. Those words resonate even stronger now.

"[T]he more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop," she said.

"I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word," she went on to say. "Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and unattractive.”

Feminist supporters are rallying behind Watson, lambasting the threats as further examples of why the fight for gender equality is as important now as ever.

“If her stolen nude photos are leaked on the Internet in retaliation for her work, that will not mean that she was irresponsible or reckless, it will mean that she is brave,” Amanda Taub wrote on Vox. “Regardless of whether any photos are released, the threats against Watson are already an attack on all of us. And we should all take it personally.”
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: 126,000 reasons why the Emma Watson hoax isn’t all bad n

Postby admin » Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:20 am

After U.N. Speech, Emma Watson Hit With Nude Photo Release Threat

by Chris Taylor

Image
Emma Watson, actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, with the Director of the UN Women Programme Division in Uruguay last week.

UPDATE, Sept. 24: The EmmaYouAreNext.com website was indeed a prank.

Just when you thought 4Chan had grown up, one of its members pulls a stunt like this.

Emma Watson's well-received speech at the U.N. calling for gender equality around the world may not seem controversial to most viewers. But it apparently was for many users on the anarchic, fast-deleted website that first hosted the nude photos stolen from the iCloud accounts of celebrities, almost all of whom happened to be women.

SEE ALSO: 'Feminists Are Not Man-Haters': Emma Watson's Moving UN Speech

On the 4Chan board /b, where jaded male users try to get a rise with shocking pictures and statements, Watson was the target of a stream of vilification and threats, according to Death and Taxes, which preserved some of the messages.

"She makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online," one anonymous member wrote.

Shortly afterwards, a website called EmmaYouAreNext.com sprung up via the site. It features Watson's face, the 4Chan logo, and a countdown clock that's counting down from 5 days to the supposed release of Watson's photos.

As many observers have speculated, 5 days would give 4Chan users ample time to Photoshop vaguely realistic fake photos featuring Watson.

There's precious little information on who is behind the website; the who.is domain information only says it was registered on Sunday Sep. 21 via anonymous domain registry eNom.

The 4Chan-based perpetrator of the previous celebrity photo hack is currently being sought by the FBI.
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am


Return to A Growing Corpus of Analytical Materials

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests