A Twitter page named Emory Makeouts (@emory_makeouts) has surfaced this semester. The page, run by an anonymous admin, asks participants to send in photos of Emory students making out in public places to an email address, and reposts the photos with humorous captions. No names are tagged – neither those of the subjects in the photo, nor that of the person who submitted it. Emory Makeouts has already garnered around 330 Twitter followers since September.
On the whole, we see major issues with Emory Makeouts. First, we feel it encourages students to attempt to embarrass or shame one another without any kind of accountability for that action. While one friend posting a photo of another friend making out on a personal Facebook page would allow for that friend to be held accountable, Emory Makeouts permits its users to post photos without any sort of authorship. It protects the anonymity of person who sent in the photo, voiding them of any kind of responsibility. Second, the photos are posted on a public platform without the subjects’ permission – a clear violation of personal privacy. Though doing so is technically legal, we at the Wheel find this inappropriate, non-consensual and invasive. Although we cannot say the intent behind Emory Makeouts – whether it is intended to shame students or merely entertain – we can say we think it is an invasion of privacy, one that has the potential to seriously humiliate students.
It seems that Emory Makeouts is a product of a larger culture at Emory, one that simultaneously promotes and stigmatizes sexual activity in a “party” atmosphere. On the one hand, many students feel that certain party environments facilitate atmospheres sexually engaging with your date is encouraged or even expected. However, simultaneously some are made to feel ashamed for being promiscuous and are shamed for their sexual behavior.
So to make out or not to make out? The answer is you should do what you want. And this includes feeling comfortable saying “no,” and having that “no” respected without ridicule or further pressuring. But if you do choose to engage in public snogging, does that mean it’s okay for a picture of it to wind up on Twitter? We feel the answer to this question is no.
This issue boils down to communication and consent – whether that involves making out at a party or posting a photo of a friend. University discourse on consent often excludes “making out” or other types of physical contact and refers almost exclusively to sexual contact. But there are a variety of pressures implicit in our social interactions every weekend, and consent is absolutely necessary to creating an atmosphere of respect.
We at the Wheel are calling for open dialogue to discuss how Emory should handle these issues. At this University and beyond, we should always feel safe to say no, and Emory Makeouts doesn’t give students who are photographed without their knowledge that option.
The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of The Emory Wheel.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
There is no real issue here, rather a matter of personal ownership of ones actions; anyone can have there picture taken in public, as a picture is no different than the action which are being captured, therefore you are held responsible for your own actions.
I would argue that students attending a party have a reasonable expectation of privacy when it comes to their actions at the party being scrutinized by folks who did not even attend. And I’m extremely uncomfortable with the idea of photographing someone in a sexual context and then distributing the photos widely without the subject’s consent. This is especially dangerous if one of the people in such a photograph has been a previous victim of stalking or intimate partner violence, as it could trigger retaliatory behavior from their abuser.
Devil’s advocate: a reasonable expectation of privacy would not assume that a couple would be putting themselves in a sexual context in public where photographs could be taken in the first place, and if they DO choose to conduct themselves that way in public then they are implicitly accepting the privacy risks.
Also – if we had to sanitize all of the photos we took on the off chance that someone’s personal background could maybe possibly trigger a negative response, photography wouldn’t really work.
Hey Malc, thanks for your comment. Playing “devil’s advocate” is a pretty common derailing technique whereby people try to score intellectual debate points while retaining the right to say “but I don’t actually DO these shitty things that I am arguing in favor of, so don’t judge me.” Given that, I am not going to further engage with your defense of bad behavior (it wouldn’t be called “devil’s advocate” if you thought the position you were advocating was a moral one!).
Fine, strike the “devil’s advocate” if it makes you feel better. You still aren’t responding to two arguments:
1), People who put themselves in a sexual context in public are subject to the same loss of a reasonable expectation of privacy as the rest of us when we go out in public
2), If we had to sanitize all photos to remove everyone whose personal background might possibly trigger a negative response, photography would not be feasible.
I actually DO believe those two points and you choosing to ignore them is not somehow discouraging bad behavior, it’s you abandoning the argument without responding to criticism. The proposal of counter-arguments, even if they aren’t actually held by the person(s) advancing them, still serve to strengthen the position being attacked IF they can be responded to.
The gist of this article is that people should be held accountable for the actions that they take, and that no one should feel ashamed of what they choose to do. Ideologically, I tend to agree with both of these things. However, it works both ways. If I choose to do something which I would like to remain private, then I ought not to do it in a public place. It’s as simple as that. If you find a photo of yourself on this twitter feed, I’m sure a simple cease and desist email to the address the page itself provides would be sufficient if you don’t want to own up to your actions. As for shaming, it all depends on how you choose to perceive the page. Nowhere on this twitter does it say “Look at this dumb slut hooking up with this douchebag frat daddy!” The sparse commentary is tongue-in-cheek at most. It all boils down to how you take responsibility for your own actions.
What an incredibly juvenile and immature thing to do. How ridiculous. And its very obvious who is running the account. Just look at the pictures.
The Emory Wheel put a picture of me on the front cover of their newspaper without asking me for consent so….