Creep Shot Teens

Doing anything without consent can seem obvious: taking photographs of someone without their permission can only end in disaster. Yet creepshots – close-up photographs taken of women in public that appear sexually suggestive but are not pornographic – have become ubiquitous on Tumblr and elsewhere online. Some of them solicit photos only from local beaches and subway platforms while others, like Predditors Tumblr as well as many Twitter feeds, forums, and general porn websites focus specifically on women worldwide.

Worse yet, some men who take and share these photos seem unaware of the consequences of their actions; often young, their ignorance may have them think displaying non-sexual images of others without consent is harmless or simply fun; for victims however, humiliation may be profound; two rape victims committed suicide after seeing their sexual assaults posted online (Shim).

Problematic behavior extends beyond individual perpetrators; rather, there’s an entire community known as “creepers” who collaborate online in discussing how best to obtain and share photos featuring minors. One subreddit bears a disclaimer which reads: “No suggestive or sexual content featuring minors.” Another forum provides rules for posting upskirt shots; in one Georgia high school case a teacher was dismissed after posting covert images of unaware female students on Reddit’s Creep Shots section.