Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec knew how to use his genius and characteristic style of drawing not only to draw attention to himself, but also to commemorate others - especially his muse, Jane Avril.
Born Jeanne Beaudon, the dancer grew up under the care of her abusive mother (she never learnt the true identity of her father); the mistreatment lead to the development of neurological problems in Avril. However, her stay in the Salpêtrière clinic helped the young patient discover her talent and passion for dancing.
As a professional, Jane Avril was appreciated by various representatives of the Symbolist movement in poetry, but it was Arsène Alexandre, a French art critic, who noticed her unconventional relationship with Toulouse-Lautrec.
The painter's acknowledgement of Avril benefited both artists: after unsuccessful beginnings, Lautrec became a well-known poster artist, and the beauty and eye-catching charm of the dancer was captured not only for the late 19th century Parisians, but also the whole world.
Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that Lautrec's paintings of Avril differ considerably from his posters: the latter depict a "graceful, light, a little mad, pale" woman, as Alexandre notes, while the former detail a pensive and older figure. The way the dancer was portrayed on the canvas helped establish her persona as an independent and self-sufficient woman, whose grace can still be regarded today.
Showing posts with label essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label essay. Show all posts
12 March 2019
22 December 2018
What role does creativity play in modern education? [short example essay]
Creativity plays a huge role in the modern education process. Whether it is teachers choosing unorthodox methods of sharing their knowledge, or pupils trying unconventional ways of acquiring information, an innovative approach is always beneficial.
To begin with, state-of-the-art technology provides teachers and lecturers with an opportunity to educate young people in a more creative and engaging way. A monotone and repetitive talk can be replaced with watching a topic-related film or browsing the Internet together in order to find the desired information; such activities are, undoubtedly, present in every student's day-to-day life and will transform their academic experienced into a pleasantly spent time, instead of a dull necessity.
Yet, it is not just teachers that can use creativity to improve the quality of the class. Thinking "outside of the box" is certain to make an individual presentation or a group project more enjoyable - both for the teacher and the classmates - and have an impact on the final grade. Possibly, it can even draw the pupils' attention to certain topics and issues, therefore broadening their knowledge even more.
Finally, creativity proves to be helpful not only during the class, but also when studying at home. Homework does not necessarily mean hours spent reading textbooks - a person that is not afraid to use their imagination can surely find numerous ways of looking for the needed information that usually are less time-consuming and might provide them with even more valuable knowledge.
The modern world creates various opportunities for those that desire to learn or share what they already know, if only one is willing to try a different, previously unavailable approach, certain to improve one's academic performance.
To begin with, state-of-the-art technology provides teachers and lecturers with an opportunity to educate young people in a more creative and engaging way. A monotone and repetitive talk can be replaced with watching a topic-related film or browsing the Internet together in order to find the desired information; such activities are, undoubtedly, present in every student's day-to-day life and will transform their academic experienced into a pleasantly spent time, instead of a dull necessity.
Yet, it is not just teachers that can use creativity to improve the quality of the class. Thinking "outside of the box" is certain to make an individual presentation or a group project more enjoyable - both for the teacher and the classmates - and have an impact on the final grade. Possibly, it can even draw the pupils' attention to certain topics and issues, therefore broadening their knowledge even more.
Finally, creativity proves to be helpful not only during the class, but also when studying at home. Homework does not necessarily mean hours spent reading textbooks - a person that is not afraid to use their imagination can surely find numerous ways of looking for the needed information that usually are less time-consuming and might provide them with even more valuable knowledge.
The modern world creates various opportunities for those that desire to learn or share what they already know, if only one is willing to try a different, previously unavailable approach, certain to improve one's academic performance.
7 December 2018
What role does music play in life? [short example essay]
Just as there are many different genres of music, this branch of the arts might also serve various purposes. From helping a person achieve a well-deserved rest to becoming a valuable source of income, music provides numerous ways for it to be enjoyed.
First of all, listening to music can be relaxing or help one calm down - there are many songs and albums created specifically for this purpose. The biggest advantage of such a way of resting is that there is usually no need to take any medicaments to alleviate the stress it is important to remember, however, that if painkillers or other drugs have been prescribed, they should always be taken.
Additionally, music provides an opportunity for a person to be met with a cathartic experience. It might seem similar to relaxing, but requires one's own effort - creating lyrics and songs - rather than simply listening to other artists. It is a fine method of confronting negative emotions that prevents one from upsetting others or harming oneself.
Lastly, as music is highly commercialised these days, composing one's own pieces might not only help cope with personal struggles, but also become a way of making money. Surely, not every musician is talented (or lucky) enough to sell millions of records worldwide, but it should not discourage anyone from trying to advertise their own creations the alternative scene is also popular, especially among the young, and can provide a chance for wider recognition.
Beyond any doubt, music serves numerous purposes, and can be used as a means of improving a person's well-being - both psychological and economic - without unnecessary medical or other external intervence.
First of all, listening to music can be relaxing or help one calm down - there are many songs and albums created specifically for this purpose. The biggest advantage of such a way of resting is that there is usually no need to take any medicaments to alleviate the stress it is important to remember, however, that if painkillers or other drugs have been prescribed, they should always be taken.
Additionally, music provides an opportunity for a person to be met with a cathartic experience. It might seem similar to relaxing, but requires one's own effort - creating lyrics and songs - rather than simply listening to other artists. It is a fine method of confronting negative emotions that prevents one from upsetting others or harming oneself.
Lastly, as music is highly commercialised these days, composing one's own pieces might not only help cope with personal struggles, but also become a way of making money. Surely, not every musician is talented (or lucky) enough to sell millions of records worldwide, but it should not discourage anyone from trying to advertise their own creations the alternative scene is also popular, especially among the young, and can provide a chance for wider recognition.
Beyond any doubt, music serves numerous purposes, and can be used as a means of improving a person's well-being - both psychological and economic - without unnecessary medical or other external intervence.
30 November 2018
The role of creativity in a person's life [short example essay]
Usually associated with ar or innovative inventions, creativity can also come in handy in day-to-day life. This particular trait can definitely help one in a variety of circumstances, from improving work performance to discovering uncomplicated methods of self-help.
Many people, especially those who have struggled to find their current job, are afraid of losing the position, and thus do not consider taking any risks or carrying out their ideas of how to increase their chances of promotion. While such an attitude is understandable, not taking advantage of whatever capabilities a person might have - in this case, creativity - is sure to prevent them from progressing, which can have a negative influence on both their career and mental well-being.
Alarming and potentially dangerous consequences of numerous situations can also be alleviated by an original approach. From actions as simple as figuring out how to open a tightly sealed jar to evading a car crash, one should always consider imagination an important resource.
Finally, a person who feels sad and distressed can easily count on their creativity to help them break out of their bitter mood. Obviously, one should always seek professional help if it is needed, but it is important to remember that something almost effortless - like a new hair colour - can make a day better.
The work "resourcefulness" might have negative connotations, but when used to describe the simple ways of advancing the quality of someone's daily life, nobody should refrain from using their creativity to benefit themselves or others.
Many people, especially those who have struggled to find their current job, are afraid of losing the position, and thus do not consider taking any risks or carrying out their ideas of how to increase their chances of promotion. While such an attitude is understandable, not taking advantage of whatever capabilities a person might have - in this case, creativity - is sure to prevent them from progressing, which can have a negative influence on both their career and mental well-being.
Alarming and potentially dangerous consequences of numerous situations can also be alleviated by an original approach. From actions as simple as figuring out how to open a tightly sealed jar to evading a car crash, one should always consider imagination an important resource.
Finally, a person who feels sad and distressed can easily count on their creativity to help them break out of their bitter mood. Obviously, one should always seek professional help if it is needed, but it is important to remember that something almost effortless - like a new hair colour - can make a day better.
The work "resourcefulness" might have negative connotations, but when used to describe the simple ways of advancing the quality of someone's daily life, nobody should refrain from using their creativity to benefit themselves or others.
9 November 2018
Is studying history a waste of time? [short example essay]
Nowadays, people - especially the young - are so focused on their day-to-day life and concerned with their future that they minimalise the importance of the past, thus not paying much attention to history lesson. Such an approach, however, is likely to prevent one from acquiring valuable knowledge, affecting both one's academic and personal chances of success.
It is often said that whoever does not know history is sure to repeat humanity's past mistakes. the belief appears to be true, as the world is continuously troubled with military conflicts, as well as social and economic issues; the reasons for said disturbances, more often than not, happen to be very similar to those that sparked past conflicts.
Studying history can also be very helpful if a person desires a stable job or a fruitful career path. Positions such as an archaeologist or a politician are usually well-paid and respected, but unattainable without a higher level of historical knowledge.
Last but not least, past events have made every person who they are today - this tendency is especially visible in regions that have been damaged by wars or troubled by various other conflicts. Familiarising oneself with the origins of such situations can become a valuable asset on one's path to self-discovery.
Being preoccupied with living in the moment should never be an obstacle on a person's path of rediscovering the past. What has already happened can undeniably happen again, and whoever is familiar with history can certainly use it to their advantage.
It is often said that whoever does not know history is sure to repeat humanity's past mistakes. the belief appears to be true, as the world is continuously troubled with military conflicts, as well as social and economic issues; the reasons for said disturbances, more often than not, happen to be very similar to those that sparked past conflicts.
Studying history can also be very helpful if a person desires a stable job or a fruitful career path. Positions such as an archaeologist or a politician are usually well-paid and respected, but unattainable without a higher level of historical knowledge.
Last but not least, past events have made every person who they are today - this tendency is especially visible in regions that have been damaged by wars or troubled by various other conflicts. Familiarising oneself with the origins of such situations can become a valuable asset on one's path to self-discovery.
Being preoccupied with living in the moment should never be an obstacle on a person's path of rediscovering the past. What has already happened can undeniably happen again, and whoever is familiar with history can certainly use it to their advantage.
19 October 2018
What can be learnt from studying literature [short example essay]
Literature, like many of the subjects that form a part of the liberal arts, cannot be thoroughly defined or subjected to strict rules, due to the variety of material and subjective interpretations. Such freedom, however, does not make studying literature chaotic, but rather creates many different possibilities of acquiring valuable skills and helpful habits.
Firstly, literature classes can help students learn historical facts by introducing them to the chosen creators. A large number of poets and writers, especially those living during the times of war and unrest, were involved in politics, serving in the army, or simply encouraging civilians to fight through their literary work; some of them, like the famous Polish poet Krzysztof Baczyński, became significant historical figures.
Secondly, studying various literary texts allows one to learn the vocabulary they would not otherwise encounter during their daily reading activities, such as opening a newspaper or checking social media profiles. Literature classes include pieces of work comprising of rich and sublime vocabulary that can undoubtedly improve the student's academic performance.
Finally, familiarising oneself with literature enables a person to learn the correct way of creating texts. By observing the structure and other core features of a literary piece, one can more easily create one's own work, as well as avoid common mistakes and misconceptions.
To sum up, studying literature proves to be beneficial for those involved in it - from helping deepen historical knowledge to allowing students to become more fluent in a given language, literature is definitely a subject one will not waste one's time on.
Firstly, literature classes can help students learn historical facts by introducing them to the chosen creators. A large number of poets and writers, especially those living during the times of war and unrest, were involved in politics, serving in the army, or simply encouraging civilians to fight through their literary work; some of them, like the famous Polish poet Krzysztof Baczyński, became significant historical figures.
Secondly, studying various literary texts allows one to learn the vocabulary they would not otherwise encounter during their daily reading activities, such as opening a newspaper or checking social media profiles. Literature classes include pieces of work comprising of rich and sublime vocabulary that can undoubtedly improve the student's academic performance.
Finally, familiarising oneself with literature enables a person to learn the correct way of creating texts. By observing the structure and other core features of a literary piece, one can more easily create one's own work, as well as avoid common mistakes and misconceptions.
To sum up, studying literature proves to be beneficial for those involved in it - from helping deepen historical knowledge to allowing students to become more fluent in a given language, literature is definitely a subject one will not waste one's time on.
23 September 2018
Activism [women in social media - part 3]
Previous two chapters described unquestionably negative factors contributing to a female celebrity's online experience related to social media. It it important to notice that the ordeal was also involuntarily; an unforeseen consequence of seemingly innocuous actions, rooten in the trust put into leading Internet companies, and, obviously, other users.
Among the undeniably adverse occurrences, it is, however, necessary to remember that famous American women are not fated to encounter problems every time they log into their accounts; social media, above all, provide an opportunity not only to defend oneself and respond to criticism and comments about sudden vulnerability, but also to take a stand against it, as well as other forms of mistreatment experienced by the victim, and others.
Moreover, besides expressing internal, personal feelings, social media allows users to share concepts and ideas they support with a large and usually diverse audience.
The term “activism” might bring to mind taking literal physical action and steps towards reaching a chosen goal or drawing a wider attention to a situation or a problem. Examples of such processes involving or centering around women can be traced – most noticeably – from past decades (suffragettes being probably the most recognisable one) to the present day (Iranian women publicly opposing mandatory veiling in hopes to regain the right to present themselves in accordance with their beliefs and will).
Even though those movements, among others, were, and still are, widely discussed and popularised through the Internet and, ipso facto, social media, they did not specifically start within the online community. In his book, Tweets and The Streets. Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Paolo Gerbaudo (2012) informs the reader that online activism is not as foreign and unfamiliar of an occurrence as it might seem.
“Where self-managed activist internet services like Indymedia and activist mailing lists were the media of choice of the anti-globalisation movement, contemporary activists are instead shamelessly appropriating corporate social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Commenting on this enthusiastic adoption of social media, pundits and journalists have readily resorted to expressions like ‘the Facebook revolution’ or ‘the Twitter revolution’.” (p. 2)
As with many popular movements, online activism gets divided into categories and manifests itself within different realms of focus. The types of activism described in this chapter are going to be divided into two categories: societal issues and political activism.
Aforementioned mandatory veiling can be considered related to the first category, however it is associated with a law upheld in a Middle Eastern country. In Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling, Hamideh Seghdi (2007) details the coercion to the reader:
“From the outset, unveiled women became a social anathema but veiled women acquired revolutionary credentials. Extolling the concealed women, women's bodies were ordered to be disguised like “pearls protected inside a shell”, as street murals conveyed and communicate today. Veiling guarded Islam, but significantly, it hid women's sexual power/energy from eliciting public disorder by distracting and arousing men sexually.” (p. 211)
Taking cultural differences into account, one might wonder what decree or societal norm western women, especially those who are famous, might struggle or have issues with? From being the first to be granted the right to vote, to being in a complete control over their lives and choices (which, sadly, still cannot be attributed to women and girls in numerous contemporary societies), the lives of the female part of the populations of North America and Europe appear desirable and praiseworthy.
However, behind the facade of liberty, there are various concerns and questions, still unanswered, that shatter the seemingly perfect notion of such life, and, by the fact itself, motivate female celebrities to try to have a say in discussions and debates about a certain commotion.
In the early seventies the Supreme Court in the United States decided that providing an access to abortion as well as the procedure itself would no longer be treated as a criminal offence. The infamous case is known as “Roe vs Wade”, as those were the name and the alias of the opposing sides that took part in the case. Since the legal settlement American abortion clinics have been providing approximately 300000 terminations every year. In their book, Abortion Politics: Public Policy in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Marianne Githens and Dorothy Stetson (1996) describe the long-lasting effect of the case:
“(...) In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in the case Roe vs. Wade that abortion fell within a woman's zone of privacy and struck down a restrictive Georgia abortion law in the companion case Doe vs. Bolton, the right to obtain an abortion has continued to be hotly debated (…). The case for an against abortion is regularly made in homes, in churches, in the media, and in legislatures across the country.” (p. 7)
Abortion and access to contraceptives (often called “reproductive rights”) for many seem to be a big part of western women's liberation. Even though the concept of a woman's right to choose her own way of living is mostly seen as positive, the meaning of liberation varies. Just as the accessibility of medical procedures mentioned above might be seen as an improvement on women's life, there are those – also females – that bear a different perspective.
One of the most influential pro-life advocates is a famous California-born journalist Lila Rose. As Marsha Vanderford (1989) explains in Vilification and Social Movements: A case study of pro‐life and pro‐choice rhetoric, the term “pro-life” (as opposed to “pro-choice”) is a name given to a person or organisation that disagrees with abortion, as well as any other form of ending a human life by another person. They also support adoption and promote taking care of the elderly, both of which are alternatives to terminating pregnancies and providing an access to euthanasia for people who are close to their natural passing or death caused by severe or terminal illnesses. Interestingly, in her book, the author also mentions the abundance of pro-choice personalities in media, therefore making the case for activists like Lila Rose:
“Patterns (...) delineated powerful individuals in media, business, and politics as pro-choice supporters. Media executives were consistently linked to pro-choice action.” (p. 171)
Rose, on her website, describes herself as: “a speaker, writer and human rights activist. Lila founded and serves as president of Live Action, a media and news nonprofit dedicated to ending abortion and inspiring a culture that respects all human life.”
Besides more traditional form of online presence, like websites, Rose uses several social media platforms that help the advocate spread her message.
Similarly to Facebook, Twitter does not only allow its users to share content and comment on it in a conventional form. Adding the commentary directly above the shared post is a popular feature which allows the user's remark to be seen by everyone, not just those who directly open the comment section. Rose seems to use this function a lot in order to target a larger audience.
The Twitter posts quoted below come from the activist's account (@LilaGraceRose) and are written in a form of the described reply.
"Since 2015, at least 16 babies were born alive in Florida after failed abortion attempts. We don't know what happened to these little ones. Were they given sufficient medical care to survive? Will we ever get to hear their stories?" as a response to "Over the past few years, according to online reports, there have been 16 abortion survivors born after abortion attempts in the state of Florida."
"Thank you, Nebraska @GovRicketts for ending federal funding to Planned Parenthood through Title X. Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of Title X funding, and every dollar frees the abortion giant up to pay staff and lobby for more tax dollars." as a response to "Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning funding to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland."
"Your [Planned Parenthood] abortionists violently tore apart 900 children today, some of them old enough to survive outside the womb. All were helpless.
You took money from parents who were scared and struggling and sold violence and death as a solution to their struggles." as a response to "Everyone has the right to lead a life that is healthy & free from violence (...)"
The tweets, obviously, give the reader and users an insight into the author's view, but, simultaneously, help them understand how social media has alleviated a woman's ability of signalling ideas and engaging in discussion.
Even though a female celebrity might already have a degree of recognition and capability to use long-established means of sharing her opinions (interviews, authoring a book), a direct message with an option of an easy engagement in conversation creates a sense of ability – and, in many cases, the ability itself – to actually take part in a case one is interested in supporting or debating. Davidson (2008) details the importance of such opportunity:
“Managers and leaders routinely use a variety of techniques, such as encouraging informal social interaction and creating and maintaining strong organizational to help people feel a part of the whole organization (Schein, 1985). One's sense of feeling included is most crucial because it strengthens affective commitment to the organization.” (p. 172)
Societal issues – abortion and adoption being not only not an exception, but a popular and returning points – are thoroughly linked to politics. On the other hand, they rarely stem out of it, however, an issue discussed publicly by a politician or a party might start a nationwide debate, involving, besides ordinary voters', the opinions of those with an already established fanbase and following.
The 2016 American presidential election seems to be a good example of such involvement.
One might safely assume that the fact that Hillary Rodham Clinton became one of two main candidates in the race to the White House greatly encouraged female celebrities to start social media based political commentary. Since the wife of the former president, Bill Clinton, had the chance to become the first female to take the office, numerous famous women used their Internet platforms to show their encouragement.
However, similarly to the previously discussed issue related to abortion, there were also those who disapproved of Clinton's candidacy. The opponents did not hesitate to detail their stance by using social media accounts as well, and – what was easily predictable – both sides drafted a wide attention for their activity, which resulted in a great number of favourable, but also, what seemed inevitable, critical comments.
It is important to remember that the purpose of this chapter is to present the famous American woman's availability to debate political turmoil (that had an impact on them as citizens) that presidential elections usually bring, and analyze the experience. The examples and quotations presented below do not ai at judging the person's position or opinion, but are supposed to illustrate and provide details of said online environment.
During the presidential campaign in 2016, Katy Perry (full name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson) – one of the best selling American pop artists worldwide - became a prominent and dedicated supporter of Clinton. Among various public ventures, notably designing shoes named after the candidate and dedicating one of the songs on her album Witness to the loss of the supported Democrat, Perry used her Twitter account, which is currently followed by over 100 users, to show her approval for Clinton. By adding a popular hashtags created by other supporters, she announced:
“YOU GOT THIS @HillaryClinton #DEBATES”
"She's smiling with ease cause #shesgotthis #ImWithHer #debatenight"
"RT if you're already preparing a seat at the table for @HillaryClinton"
As mentioned above, despite the tweets being targeted mainly at the singer's fans and the followers of the Democratic candidate, Perry also faced criticism for her posts. Under the article of the writer Jerome Hudson (Katy Perry Begs Democratic National Convention To Vote For Hillary Clinton), working for the political news site Breitbart, they commentators demonstrated their contempt for the woman's plea and actions. The author of the most popular (given the most votes by other readers) comment claims:
“(...) EMPTY mind, you vapid c_nt. Empty, not open. Make an IQ of at least 110 a prerequisite for voting rights, and all America's problems will be gone. Make it a requirement for performing in public, and we'll never hear from Katy Perry again.”
The statement clearly indicates the person's derogatory attitude towards the woman in relation to her gender (“vapid c_nt”), as well as doubt in her mental abilities, calling her mind “empty”. Even though it is unknown whether Perry saw the comment, it is safe to assume that she must have been aware of the opinion others have of her for supporting the chosen candidate, since the post, as previously mentioned, gained a big applause of the readers of the article.
Nevertheless, since there were two candidates hoping to become the resident of The White House, both of them gathered supporters amongst the famous.
Keeping in mind the point made earlier – that Hillary Clinton could have become the first female president of The United States – it seemed that she was the one to have the majority of female celebrities as allies. Scholars Bremner, Soufer, McCarthy, Delaney, Staib, Duncan, and Charney (2001) support the theory in their article, Gender Differences In Cognitive and Neural Correlates of Remembrance of Emotional Words:
"Studies suggest that men and women have important differences in specific cognitive functions. (...) women rely on emotional content to a greater degree in the processing of information." (p. 56)
The emotional aspect of having a representative of their gender among American leaders was undoubtedly an important factor that lead many female celebrities to show Hillary Clinton their appreciation. Nonetheless, her rival, Donald John Trump, managed to attract various popular names as well.
Kaya Jones (real name Chrystal Neria), a singer raised in Nevada, who was once performing with a popular all-girl music group The Pussycat Dolls, did not conceal her support for the Republican candidate. Similarly to Perry, Jones decided that Twitter would help her spread her opinion and approval:
"I want to show other celebrities who voted for @realDonaldTrump it’s ok to come forward. Better yet let’s show the world how many Americans stand with him. Bullies shouldn’t be allowed for almost a year and a half to bully us without cause. If you voted for him just Like or RT"
She even used a hashtag invented by Trump's opponents to show her support:
"Trump that’s who. Himself even more fabulous #CouldBeatTrumpIn2020"
The statements received a negative feedback as well. In an interview with Willie Pena, as an answer to the question about being criticized for openly supporting the candidate, the woman admitted: “Yes. I've received death threats.”
Jones, however, is not the only famous ally of Donald Trump. Blaire White, a political commentator with a following of almost 400 thousands users on her YouTube channel, admitted to voting Republican in the 2016 election. White is usually considered as phenomenon, since transsexuals have always been associated with the opposite side of the political spectrum, a theory that is backed in Rawyn Connell's (2012) Transsexual Women and Feminist Thought: Toward New Understanding and New Politics:
"The political meaning of transsexuality began to be negotiated in the US New Left (...). Several small, radical transsexual/transvestite groups formed, and they issued a manifesto calling for social justice." (p. 4)
White shares her experience from the point of view of a trans female who has publicly voiced her approval of the candidate. Marie Solis adduces White's interview with Newsweek, where the YouTuber describes a physical assault she has endured:
"I have never been assaulted for being trans. I’ve never had anyone on the street say anything nasty to me about being trans. But I was assaulted for wearing a Trump hat. I think that speaks for itself."
Although such reaction to someone expressing their political leaning might seem exaggerated, Henrik Urdal reminds that, surprisingly, it is to be expected in countries like The United States: "The opportunity literature suggests that the opportunity for political violence is greater the less autocratic a state is (…)" (p. 613)
In summary, the chapter described a new opportunity for famous women not only to join a discussion, usually related to a popular or controversial topics, but also to spread their message and opinions more easily. Despite already having an audience, social media allows a celebrity to engage with followers and commentators in a way that is quick and gives the impression (and, obviously, the real experience) of having an impact on The United States and the world's current struggles and events.
Among the undeniably adverse occurrences, it is, however, necessary to remember that famous American women are not fated to encounter problems every time they log into their accounts; social media, above all, provide an opportunity not only to defend oneself and respond to criticism and comments about sudden vulnerability, but also to take a stand against it, as well as other forms of mistreatment experienced by the victim, and others.
Moreover, besides expressing internal, personal feelings, social media allows users to share concepts and ideas they support with a large and usually diverse audience.
The term “activism” might bring to mind taking literal physical action and steps towards reaching a chosen goal or drawing a wider attention to a situation or a problem. Examples of such processes involving or centering around women can be traced – most noticeably – from past decades (suffragettes being probably the most recognisable one) to the present day (Iranian women publicly opposing mandatory veiling in hopes to regain the right to present themselves in accordance with their beliefs and will).
Even though those movements, among others, were, and still are, widely discussed and popularised through the Internet and, ipso facto, social media, they did not specifically start within the online community. In his book, Tweets and The Streets. Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Paolo Gerbaudo (2012) informs the reader that online activism is not as foreign and unfamiliar of an occurrence as it might seem.
“Where self-managed activist internet services like Indymedia and activist mailing lists were the media of choice of the anti-globalisation movement, contemporary activists are instead shamelessly appropriating corporate social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Commenting on this enthusiastic adoption of social media, pundits and journalists have readily resorted to expressions like ‘the Facebook revolution’ or ‘the Twitter revolution’.” (p. 2)
As with many popular movements, online activism gets divided into categories and manifests itself within different realms of focus. The types of activism described in this chapter are going to be divided into two categories: societal issues and political activism.
Aforementioned mandatory veiling can be considered related to the first category, however it is associated with a law upheld in a Middle Eastern country. In Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling, Hamideh Seghdi (2007) details the coercion to the reader:
“From the outset, unveiled women became a social anathema but veiled women acquired revolutionary credentials. Extolling the concealed women, women's bodies were ordered to be disguised like “pearls protected inside a shell”, as street murals conveyed and communicate today. Veiling guarded Islam, but significantly, it hid women's sexual power/energy from eliciting public disorder by distracting and arousing men sexually.” (p. 211)
Taking cultural differences into account, one might wonder what decree or societal norm western women, especially those who are famous, might struggle or have issues with? From being the first to be granted the right to vote, to being in a complete control over their lives and choices (which, sadly, still cannot be attributed to women and girls in numerous contemporary societies), the lives of the female part of the populations of North America and Europe appear desirable and praiseworthy.
However, behind the facade of liberty, there are various concerns and questions, still unanswered, that shatter the seemingly perfect notion of such life, and, by the fact itself, motivate female celebrities to try to have a say in discussions and debates about a certain commotion.
In the early seventies the Supreme Court in the United States decided that providing an access to abortion as well as the procedure itself would no longer be treated as a criminal offence. The infamous case is known as “Roe vs Wade”, as those were the name and the alias of the opposing sides that took part in the case. Since the legal settlement American abortion clinics have been providing approximately 300000 terminations every year. In their book, Abortion Politics: Public Policy in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Marianne Githens and Dorothy Stetson (1996) describe the long-lasting effect of the case:
“(...) In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in the case Roe vs. Wade that abortion fell within a woman's zone of privacy and struck down a restrictive Georgia abortion law in the companion case Doe vs. Bolton, the right to obtain an abortion has continued to be hotly debated (…). The case for an against abortion is regularly made in homes, in churches, in the media, and in legislatures across the country.” (p. 7)
Abortion and access to contraceptives (often called “reproductive rights”) for many seem to be a big part of western women's liberation. Even though the concept of a woman's right to choose her own way of living is mostly seen as positive, the meaning of liberation varies. Just as the accessibility of medical procedures mentioned above might be seen as an improvement on women's life, there are those – also females – that bear a different perspective.
One of the most influential pro-life advocates is a famous California-born journalist Lila Rose. As Marsha Vanderford (1989) explains in Vilification and Social Movements: A case study of pro‐life and pro‐choice rhetoric, the term “pro-life” (as opposed to “pro-choice”) is a name given to a person or organisation that disagrees with abortion, as well as any other form of ending a human life by another person. They also support adoption and promote taking care of the elderly, both of which are alternatives to terminating pregnancies and providing an access to euthanasia for people who are close to their natural passing or death caused by severe or terminal illnesses. Interestingly, in her book, the author also mentions the abundance of pro-choice personalities in media, therefore making the case for activists like Lila Rose:
“Patterns (...) delineated powerful individuals in media, business, and politics as pro-choice supporters. Media executives were consistently linked to pro-choice action.” (p. 171)
Rose, on her website, describes herself as: “a speaker, writer and human rights activist. Lila founded and serves as president of Live Action, a media and news nonprofit dedicated to ending abortion and inspiring a culture that respects all human life.”
Besides more traditional form of online presence, like websites, Rose uses several social media platforms that help the advocate spread her message.
Similarly to Facebook, Twitter does not only allow its users to share content and comment on it in a conventional form. Adding the commentary directly above the shared post is a popular feature which allows the user's remark to be seen by everyone, not just those who directly open the comment section. Rose seems to use this function a lot in order to target a larger audience.
The Twitter posts quoted below come from the activist's account (@LilaGraceRose) and are written in a form of the described reply.
"Since 2015, at least 16 babies were born alive in Florida after failed abortion attempts. We don't know what happened to these little ones. Were they given sufficient medical care to survive? Will we ever get to hear their stories?" as a response to "Over the past few years, according to online reports, there have been 16 abortion survivors born after abortion attempts in the state of Florida."
"Thank you, Nebraska @GovRicketts for ending federal funding to Planned Parenthood through Title X. Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of Title X funding, and every dollar frees the abortion giant up to pay staff and lobby for more tax dollars." as a response to "Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning funding to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland."
"Your [Planned Parenthood] abortionists violently tore apart 900 children today, some of them old enough to survive outside the womb. All were helpless.
You took money from parents who were scared and struggling and sold violence and death as a solution to their struggles." as a response to "Everyone has the right to lead a life that is healthy & free from violence (...)"
The tweets, obviously, give the reader and users an insight into the author's view, but, simultaneously, help them understand how social media has alleviated a woman's ability of signalling ideas and engaging in discussion.
Even though a female celebrity might already have a degree of recognition and capability to use long-established means of sharing her opinions (interviews, authoring a book), a direct message with an option of an easy engagement in conversation creates a sense of ability – and, in many cases, the ability itself – to actually take part in a case one is interested in supporting or debating. Davidson (2008) details the importance of such opportunity:
“Managers and leaders routinely use a variety of techniques, such as encouraging informal social interaction and creating and maintaining strong organizational to help people feel a part of the whole organization (Schein, 1985). One's sense of feeling included is most crucial because it strengthens affective commitment to the organization.” (p. 172)
Societal issues – abortion and adoption being not only not an exception, but a popular and returning points – are thoroughly linked to politics. On the other hand, they rarely stem out of it, however, an issue discussed publicly by a politician or a party might start a nationwide debate, involving, besides ordinary voters', the opinions of those with an already established fanbase and following.
The 2016 American presidential election seems to be a good example of such involvement.
One might safely assume that the fact that Hillary Rodham Clinton became one of two main candidates in the race to the White House greatly encouraged female celebrities to start social media based political commentary. Since the wife of the former president, Bill Clinton, had the chance to become the first female to take the office, numerous famous women used their Internet platforms to show their encouragement.
However, similarly to the previously discussed issue related to abortion, there were also those who disapproved of Clinton's candidacy. The opponents did not hesitate to detail their stance by using social media accounts as well, and – what was easily predictable – both sides drafted a wide attention for their activity, which resulted in a great number of favourable, but also, what seemed inevitable, critical comments.
It is important to remember that the purpose of this chapter is to present the famous American woman's availability to debate political turmoil (that had an impact on them as citizens) that presidential elections usually bring, and analyze the experience. The examples and quotations presented below do not ai at judging the person's position or opinion, but are supposed to illustrate and provide details of said online environment.
During the presidential campaign in 2016, Katy Perry (full name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson) – one of the best selling American pop artists worldwide - became a prominent and dedicated supporter of Clinton. Among various public ventures, notably designing shoes named after the candidate and dedicating one of the songs on her album Witness to the loss of the supported Democrat, Perry used her Twitter account, which is currently followed by over 100 users, to show her approval for Clinton. By adding a popular hashtags created by other supporters, she announced:
“YOU GOT THIS @HillaryClinton #DEBATES”
"She's smiling with ease cause #shesgotthis #ImWithHer #debatenight"
"RT if you're already preparing a seat at the table for @HillaryClinton"
As mentioned above, despite the tweets being targeted mainly at the singer's fans and the followers of the Democratic candidate, Perry also faced criticism for her posts. Under the article of the writer Jerome Hudson (Katy Perry Begs Democratic National Convention To Vote For Hillary Clinton), working for the political news site Breitbart, they commentators demonstrated their contempt for the woman's plea and actions. The author of the most popular (given the most votes by other readers) comment claims:
“(...) EMPTY mind, you vapid c_nt. Empty, not open. Make an IQ of at least 110 a prerequisite for voting rights, and all America's problems will be gone. Make it a requirement for performing in public, and we'll never hear from Katy Perry again.”
The statement clearly indicates the person's derogatory attitude towards the woman in relation to her gender (“vapid c_nt”), as well as doubt in her mental abilities, calling her mind “empty”. Even though it is unknown whether Perry saw the comment, it is safe to assume that she must have been aware of the opinion others have of her for supporting the chosen candidate, since the post, as previously mentioned, gained a big applause of the readers of the article.
Nevertheless, since there were two candidates hoping to become the resident of The White House, both of them gathered supporters amongst the famous.
Keeping in mind the point made earlier – that Hillary Clinton could have become the first female president of The United States – it seemed that she was the one to have the majority of female celebrities as allies. Scholars Bremner, Soufer, McCarthy, Delaney, Staib, Duncan, and Charney (2001) support the theory in their article, Gender Differences In Cognitive and Neural Correlates of Remembrance of Emotional Words:
"Studies suggest that men and women have important differences in specific cognitive functions. (...) women rely on emotional content to a greater degree in the processing of information." (p. 56)
The emotional aspect of having a representative of their gender among American leaders was undoubtedly an important factor that lead many female celebrities to show Hillary Clinton their appreciation. Nonetheless, her rival, Donald John Trump, managed to attract various popular names as well.
Kaya Jones (real name Chrystal Neria), a singer raised in Nevada, who was once performing with a popular all-girl music group The Pussycat Dolls, did not conceal her support for the Republican candidate. Similarly to Perry, Jones decided that Twitter would help her spread her opinion and approval:
"I want to show other celebrities who voted for @realDonaldTrump it’s ok to come forward. Better yet let’s show the world how many Americans stand with him. Bullies shouldn’t be allowed for almost a year and a half to bully us without cause. If you voted for him just Like or RT"
She even used a hashtag invented by Trump's opponents to show her support:
"Trump that’s who. Himself even more fabulous #CouldBeatTrumpIn2020"
The statements received a negative feedback as well. In an interview with Willie Pena, as an answer to the question about being criticized for openly supporting the candidate, the woman admitted: “Yes. I've received death threats.”
Jones, however, is not the only famous ally of Donald Trump. Blaire White, a political commentator with a following of almost 400 thousands users on her YouTube channel, admitted to voting Republican in the 2016 election. White is usually considered as phenomenon, since transsexuals have always been associated with the opposite side of the political spectrum, a theory that is backed in Rawyn Connell's (2012) Transsexual Women and Feminist Thought: Toward New Understanding and New Politics:
"The political meaning of transsexuality began to be negotiated in the US New Left (...). Several small, radical transsexual/transvestite groups formed, and they issued a manifesto calling for social justice." (p. 4)
White shares her experience from the point of view of a trans female who has publicly voiced her approval of the candidate. Marie Solis adduces White's interview with Newsweek, where the YouTuber describes a physical assault she has endured:
"I have never been assaulted for being trans. I’ve never had anyone on the street say anything nasty to me about being trans. But I was assaulted for wearing a Trump hat. I think that speaks for itself."
Although such reaction to someone expressing their political leaning might seem exaggerated, Henrik Urdal reminds that, surprisingly, it is to be expected in countries like The United States: "The opportunity literature suggests that the opportunity for political violence is greater the less autocratic a state is (…)" (p. 613)
In summary, the chapter described a new opportunity for famous women not only to join a discussion, usually related to a popular or controversial topics, but also to spread their message and opinions more easily. Despite already having an audience, social media allows a celebrity to engage with followers and commentators in a way that is quick and gives the impression (and, obviously, the real experience) of having an impact on The United States and the world's current struggles and events.
8 August 2018
Identity Theft [women in social media - part 1]
(Based on the movie "Catfish".)
Identity theft, according to Saounders and Zucker (2010), is usually associated with illegally obtaining one's personal data in order to use their credit card or bank account. Accordingly, it might also refer to collecting a person's ID to perform various actions (from buying adult beverages to taking a loan) in their name. Whereas such definitions are still the most commonly used and accurate, as technological advancement progresses, people have started to share their identity online.
Blazka (2017) further links the concept to its traditional form by explaining legal consequences behind such activity:
“As online impersonations are a relatively new concept legally speaking, there are not always specific laws in place. Furthermore, with Section 33.07 of the Texas Penal Code under fire, it would be wise to consider whether existing laws, on either a state or federal level, might be positioned to provide relief. Each case being different, and the specific laws as written varying by jurisdiction, some of these legal theories might be seen as applying in the general sense.” (p. 37)
Communities like Facebook require providing real name and surname in order to use it correctly, although Mark Zuckerberg's Internet giant is, as for now, in a minority, since most networks allow their users to pick a chosen nickname. If identity theft is understood in the sense described earlier, one might rightfully assume that users of Facebook are more prone to becoming the victim of such thievery. The more anonymous networks, however, even when the anonymity is limited only to a name, play a more significant role in faking or stealing identity online.
To describe the reason why the users of aforementioned platforms are exposed to the danger of online identity theft in more detail, the phenomenon itself ought to be defined first. As Hancock (2009) describes it, “deception in the context of information and communication technology, or what I will call digital deception, which refers to the intentional control of information in a technologically mediated message to create a false belief in the receiver of the message.” (p. 3)
Deliberate deception among social media users - commonly called “catfishing” - derives its name from Nev Schulman's documentary “Catfish”. In his film, the director depicts his relationship with Megan, a young woman he met online, who later turns out to be Angela Wessselman, a middle-aged mother who has been posing as Megan by using pictures of a model, Aimee Gonzales.
Besides introducing the concept of catfishing to a larger audience, the film also illustrates the psychology behind the act. Schulman, eager to portray not only the motive of the catfish but also the feelings of the impersonated model, decides to additionally conduct an interview with Gonzales herself (who, at the beginning of their talk, has no idea that hundreds of her pictures have been used to fabricate a persona). Thanks to the director's efforts, the story in “Catfish”, as well as the interview with Aimee Gonzales, besides its educational aspect on the dangers of online relationships, also illustrates, even if not directly, the involved model's experience.
Most social networks offer picture sharing as a basic method of establishing a user profile; yet, their targeted audience might vary. While services like Flickr allow professional photographers to share their work, Instagram – being currently one of the most popular online platforms in general – tends to focus on more amateur work. According to Hu, Manikonda, and Kambhampati (2004):
“Nearly half (46.6%) of the photos in our dataset belong to Selfies and Friends categories with slightly more self-portraits (24.2% vs. 22.4%). We also notice that Pet and Fashion are the least popular categories with less than 5% of the total number of images. This corroborates with some of the recent discoveries in popular news media. Other categories – Food, Gadget and Captioned photo contributes to more than 10% individually but are approximately same among themselves. This is in line with the conventional wisdom that Instagram is mostly used for self promoting and social networking with their friends.” (p. 597)
Gonzales, despite being a professional model, used the Internet to share amateur pictures as well. As revealed in the film, while the young woman's artistic work was what had drawn Wesselman's attention, the personal photographs were used to establish a network of fictional profiles – a step necessary to make Megan's identity seem genuine.
Whilst discussing the catfish' methods, the questions might arise: why does one decide to steal someone else's identity to build a fabricated one online? How and why can a famous woman become a part of such forgery? To explain the reasons behind and causes of the first issue, it is necessary to understand the psyche and environment of Angela Wesselman. The film, especially the part after revealing the true identity of Megan, gives the viewer an insight into both of these factors, greatly helping to comprehend the concept of and logic behind catfishing.
The main factor affecting those who decide to stage a fictitious online life appears to be low self-esteem. An issue that existed long before the era of social media, or even the World Wide Web itself, seems to have increased due to the availability of access to the Internet. As Niemz, Griffiths, and Banyard (2005) discuss in their study:
“If people have a low opinion of themselves and find it difficult to socialize because of their shyness or lack of self-esteem, they may use the Internet as an alternative form of socializing, in which they can open up and gain confidence without having to interact face to face. However, as it was mentioned earlier, the direction of the relationship is unclear, as a low self-esteem may be a consequence of excessive Internet use, rather than a cause.” (p 568)
In the film, the viewer is introduced to the real personality and life of Angela Wesselman. The middle-aged woman lives with her youngest daughter and second husband, Vince, in a small town in Michigan. The family's life revolves around Vince's two sons from his previous relationship – both of them are severely mentally handicapped and require continued medical care, and the parents' attention. Though Angela is fond of her step-sons and is the person responsible for fulfilling most of their needs, she expresses grief over her career as a painter that she has never had a chance to further pursue due to her commitment to Vince's children.
In her limited spare time, she continues to paint (although does not have a platform or an ability to share her work with a wider audience), but also tries to find a way to the fruition of her fantasy of a life she has never managed to experience. She decides to create a Facebook profile, where she poses as her daughter, Abigail, shares her paintings as the girl's, and, finally, befriends Nev, the director of the film. As their friendship continues, Angela's lies – but also the relationship - become more complex. The woman sends Nev her original paintings (while still pretending they were Abigail's), and claims that the girl has her own gallery in Michigan.
This part of Angela's continuing deception is well illustrated in the beginning of the provided explanation of how low self-esteem plays a role in online identity theft. By claiming to be Abigail, she can experience – however faint and artificial – the feeling of being a young and critically acclaimed artist. After years of being able to only fantasise about reliving her youth and achieving fame, when the dream materialises in online world, Angela becomes more indulged in her lies than she initially planned – which supports the claim that identity theft is not just the result of low self-esteem, but can also be caused by easy access to the content available online. Boyd (2008) explains Angela's mindset to even greater detail:
“Imagine that you are screaming to be heard in a loud environment when suddenly the music stops and everyone hears the end of your sentence. Most likely, they will turn to stare at you and you will turn beet red (unless exposure does not bother you).” The author also describes why it was easy for the older woman to create such elaborate lie: “Participants were not likely to post secrets, but they often posted information that was only relevant in certain contexts. The assumption was that if you were visiting someone’s page, you could access information in context. When snippets and actions were broadcast to the News Feed, they were taken out of context and made far more visible than seemed reasonable.” (p. 14)
Although not clearly stated in the film, it is suggested by Wesselman's further actions that pretending to be Abigail, however joyful it might have seemed at the beginning, would not fulfill all the expectations related to the Internet friendship the woman has developed over time.
Through Abigail, she desired to feel youthful again, which, at the beginning, she achieved. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the girl, oblivious to her mother's actions, was only eight years old, both in reality, and Angela's shenanigans. As it is revealed at the end of the production, the woman did, in fact, started to falsely believe that the world she had created truly existed, but it did not happen up until establishing a whole group of fake facebook identities. At the point of realising that the character of Abigail might not be sufficient for her needs, Angela was fully aware of what she was doing, and, most importantly, of her authentic identity, and hence, emotions.
What was previously the aim, has become an obstacle, as the woman started to – genuinely – develop romantic feelings towards Nev. Abigail's age, despite being the most important factor preventing any kind of an emotional bond other than friendship and admiration for talent, was not the only reason behind Wesselman's decision to indulge into even more complex deception.
The idea of admitting the lies to the man, and thus proving herself to be dishonest and untrustworthy was upsetting the woman, yet, surprisingly, not as much as revealing her actual, physical frame. Such thinking might paint Angela as shallow and deprived of principles in the viewer's eyes, but one should not forget the circumstances surrounding the already perplexing situation.
Knowing Nev to be in his mid-twenties at the time of encountering Abigail, Angela suspected that he would most probably not be interested in a relationship with a much older woman, focusing on this fact even more than on her already having a life partner. She also deduced that even if those two matters were somehow overcome, her physique might have played a deciding role in stopping any further romantic involvement. Such realisation greatly distressed Angela, which exemplifies the validity of Niemz, Griffiths, and Banyard's theory.
Wesselman's insecurities, deepened by her use of the Internet, did not, however make her refrain from continuing the relationship with Nev. Being aware of the legitimate happiness posing as Abigail had initially provided her with, she decided to create another fabricated online identity, which would not only be an embodiment of past desires, but also the current ones.This stage of Angela's deception was when Aimee Gonzales, unbeknownst to her, became involved, and where the famous woman's experience with identity theft ought to be explained in greater detail.
Gonzales' was de facto not introduced in “Catfish” in person, yet her involvement was equally as important as Angela's. The viewer has a chance to familiarise themselves with the image of Gonzales through many pictures of her shown in the film, yet not only, at the beginning, does not see the model and photographer directly on the screen, but also does not learn her true identity. The reason for such bizarre participation was Angela's aforementioned decision to not abandon her fraudulent online activity because of the limitations of Abigail's persona.
The Internet was the Washington-based model's main platform to share her work, both as a photographer and a model. She used networks aimed especially at people interesting in photography, but also websites like then-popular MySpace, where she posted more personal and not professional work. Fully aware of praise and criticism resulting from sharing any kind of craft online, Gonzales had not expected her pictures to be misused in any way. When asked about “Catfish” and her reaction to Wesselman's actions, in an interview conducted in 2010 by Gina Piccalo, the model admitted: “She [Angela Wesselman] went to my MySpace page, my Model Mayhem page. She was even quoting things that I would say on my pictures and she would use that on her own pictures.”
How exactly Angela found Gonzales' work remains unknown, yet it is not difficult to understand why she chose the model's image to be the face of her newly invented character. Bearing in mind the older woman's already existing and newly developed self-esteem issues, as well as her unreciprocated romantic attachment to Nev, Aimee's persona appears to be what would alleviate the problems had Angela had the chance to possess the model's physical features. What was undoubtedly not possible to attain in an offline world, became certainly achievable online. Encouraged by the success of Abigail's bogus profile, especially after gaining enough experience in using a fake online persona thanks to it, Angela constructed a completely new character, a nineteen years old Megan Faccio.
This is the name the viewers know Aimee Gonzales by in Schulman's production. Soon after establishing Megan's profile, Angela tried to use it to befriend Nev again, this time as a woman in her late teens (to validate the sudden Facebook invitation, Megan was introduced as Abigail's older sister).
As the relationship between Nev and Megan quickly developed, Niemz, Griffiths, and Banyard are proven to be right yet again. Angela became even more invested in pursuing the lie as Megan (but did not stop to contact Nev as Abigail, hence her new remained to seem genuine to the man). The preference of the character of Megan can be explained by both alleviating Angela's problems with self-image and the enacted possibility of romantic interactions.
As mentioned earlier, Abigail's fake persona allowed Angela to, however briefly, fulfill her artistic ambitions, and Megan Faccio, accordingly, personified the physical qualities the woman desired in order to form a stronger bond with Nev. The existence of Abigail's older sister profile can be explained from the perspective of both the catfish and the catfished, the first clarifying the reason behind its creation, the other describing the outcome and consequences, in this case, experienced by a famous woman.
In Rob Frappier's interview with Nev Schulman, his brother, and a friend, who helped to shot and produce the film, the director talks about his attitude towards Megan, and his attachment to the sisters met online:
"The depth of the interaction and the extent of it was much more personal for me. (...) And it’s been a great lesson in sort of understanding why you allow yourself to, or convince yourself of something that you want — and the power of flattery and the fantasy and the escape element in all of us, in that we want something that doesn’t make sense or is unobtainable. (...) I guess I was at a point in my life where I felt like, okay, I’d like to get to the next level with a woman. I’d like to feel a really deep connection with someone, as I think everybody does, and I hadn’t found that in New York City. And so, when something came along that was so different and so unusual that I thought, “Maybe that’s why. Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right place.” Maybe there’s something so organic and genuine about this family that it will sort of take me out of this world that hasn’t worked, in regards specifically to the perfect girl, and I’ll find it somewhere else where I would least expect."
The quote, obviously, describes Nev's opinion and feelings, but can also be used as means of understanding Angela's emotions and logic. Being in a relationship where the needs of the children were the most important issue, Angela might have longed for the romantic connection she once experienced with Vince. Even though the circumstances were clearly different, as the woman thought she lost the attachment, and Nev had never been in love, they both deduced that a loving partner was what they desired at that time.
They considered, after becoming Facebook acquaintances, that they would try to find their significant one in a place different than usual – for Nev, a native New Yorker, it was Michigan; Angela looked online for what turned out to be a refreshing, but ultimately specious bond, which involved two more, unsuspecting, yet truly affected, people – Aimee Gonzales and Vince Pierce.
Accordingly, feelings seem to be the most important among Nev and Angela's shared experiences. “Organic and genuine”, they let both of them believe that they had found exactly what they needed. Although it might appear bizarre that a man would genuinely fall in love with a woman he has only ever seen in pictures (and, later, on the phone, heard what was supposed to be Megan speaking), it is, at the same time, not unimaginable; even though there was no physical contact, communication and appearance – both essential in forming a bond – were present.
The catfish' emotions, however, happen to be more difficult to understand. While Nev had no idea he was being misled, Angela, despite slowly losing sense of reality, still knew the basis of the relationship was artificial. As mentioned earlier, a connection without any physical contact was sufficient for answering the woman's needs.
Though based on elaborate lies, the affair between the catfished and the catfish would most certainly not be possible without the engagement of Gonzales. The interview with Gina Picallo comprises not only of the description of Wesselman's online activity, but also describes the model's feelings. “Gonzales says: “Your natural response is, ‘Oh, it’s OK.’ And it’s not. It’s not OK.” Wesselman-Pierce even used the name of Gonzales’ 8-year-old daughter to identify an imaginary dead pet snake. “I definitely felt violated and just completely drained,” says Gonzales, who also has a son, 6. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so tired in my life.” The fragment allows a better insight into Aimee Gonzales' experience both as a person whose identity has been hijacked and as a famous woman sharing her work and image on social media.
What might draw the reader's attention first is the model's children being included in the scam as well. Although Wesselman was not aiming to hurt the children, identity theft is assuredly among the dangers the Internet possesses for minors.
Posting children's pictures and personal information online is prevalent among parents who use social media. Although majority of them does it simply to share the joys of parenting, the data, as any other information that enters the world wide web, might end up being viewed by a previously unintended party. Whether it is an online predator preying on children, or someone, like Wesselman, who does not intend to hurt the child per se, a minor's privacy can easily be jeopardized, which, if the child is mature enough to understand the situation, but not to confront it properly, can lead to serious health issues. Murburg (1994) states :
“The neurophysiological activation seen during acute stress is usually rapid and reversible. When the stressful event is of a sufficient duration, intensity, or frequency, however, these changes are not reversible. (...) In the adult, with a mature brain, the increases in catecholamine activity associated with the stress response may result in sensitization. In the developing brain, however, neurotransmitters and hormones play key roles in neuronal migration, differentiation, synaptic proliferation and overall brain development (Lauder 1988) and, therefore, the tremendous increases in neurotransmitter activity seen with severe or prolonged stress would be expected to have a significant impact on brain development.” (p. 4)
It is worth mentioning that the threats above were described as an experience of an ordinary parent and child, who, although are vulnerable to identity theft, usually do not get recognized and purposely searched for. A public person, however, attracts a bigger online following, which, most of the time, leads to the public being interested not only in their idol, but also in his or her environment. In extreme cases, such fascination heads to stalking, but it might take a less physically damaging (for the victim) and demanding (for the wrongdoer) form.
Aimee Gonzales, as a mother herself, besides her professional and amateur work, shared information and photos related to her family as well. Wesselman, in order to make the life she had crafted on Facebook more believable, decided to use the model's child's (and, as the film reveals later, other members' of the family too) persona. One might wonder: would the chances of Angela claiming the identity of the youngest members of the Gonzales family have been lower if the young woman was a private person? Since Wesselman never explained how exactly she found Aimee's photographs, in this particular case, it might seem impossible to give a direct answer to such question; however, there are certain premises that suggest the correlation between Gonzales' profession and her children being in jeopardy of identity theft. The easiness of finding a person modeling online, the number of available pictures (which Angela collected hundreds of), and, deeper than in the case of a private individual, interest in the famous' personal life, all contribute to Aimee Gonzales, as a famous woman, being in a greater risk of the theft of her and her relatives' image than someone who has not exposed themselves on the Internet to such extent.
The violation of the children's privacy is a serious and thought-provoking matter, and undeniably related to the model's work, yet it is not the woman's only concern linked to being catfished. In the interview, even before the mention of her son and daughter, Gonzales describes her first response – or what she thought would be her proper reaction – to the situation.
In one of her blog posts, Sara F. Hawkins, an attorney, reminds the reader:
“Nearly every photo taken gives the author (the one who takes the photo) a protectable right to prevent others from using or reproducing that image. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally, the photographer owns the copyright. This is actually very important to know should you ever hand your camera to someone else to take a photo.” (Hawkins, 2011)
The quote defines the legal aspect of picture sharing. Shortly after finding out about Wesselman's shenanigans, the model contemplated pursuing legal action against the catfish, yet later chose not to, as Piccalo's interview also discloses: “Initially, Gonzales considered reporting Wesselman-Pierce to some authority to see if she had any legal recourse. In the end, though, she decided to let it go. “She didn’t really financially gain anything from me,” Gonzales reasoned. “I’m not a person that really deals with confrontation very well. I just kind of avoid it. It didn’t make sense for me.””
Since there were no authorities involved, and the woman focuses on her emotional reaction to the theft, Gonzales' mental attitude needs to be construed in greater detail.
The first – and for many, the logical – response to someone stealing another person's photographs is that the uploader should be aware of the risks of publicising content online. From negative commentary to more malicious, or even illegal, actions, there is no method of fully protecting oneself from the dangers the Internet possesses, and since, a person, at least in the cases where no illicit activity was present, should not feel disturbed or upset by falling a victim to such wrongdoings. The conclusion seems to be especially relevant when the famous are involved, as, usually, they are fully aware of the reaching of the Internet and easy access to the shared data.
Gonzales', however, seems to disagree with aforementioned mindset. She admits to having felt “drained”, and refuses to simply ignore the situation she has found herself in. Although she does not openly provide a specific reason – besides, obviously, the unexpectedness and bizarreness of the situation – one might easily guess the model's conflicted emotions. Is Gonzales' chosen profession the main reason for her being exposed to such trauma? The quantity of and uncomplicated access to the pictures (also the professional ones) made her an easy target for perpetrators like Wesselman, who need a large amount of images to successfully pursue their lie.
In conclusion, the unexpected relationship between Aimee Gonzales and Angela Wessleman illustrates one of the dangers awaiting a famous woman who decides to use social media, especially when it is meant to be a tool for sharing the work that has made them a public figure in the first place. Personalities like Mrs Gonzales become more vulnerable to identity theft, not only because of its expanding definition, but also due to a complex combination of other users' struggle to manage their own emotions correctly and deeply rooted convictions of what physical and mental features are considered superior.
Thanks to Nev Schulman's film, one is able to understand two concepts that have already existed for a very long time – identity theft and problems with self-image – in a completely new way, as those problems both exist now, besides their traditional form, in their contemporary, online variant. Yet, first and foremost, the production is well suited to be an example that specifies and helps one introduce themselves to the issue this chapter is focused on.
Because of what was supposed (since, as mentioned before, the specific model's beauty and youth was what Angela thought Nev would be interested in) to be her assets, Aimee Gonzales fell prey to the unexpected behaviour of a member of her Internet audience, who, yet again, was initially meant to solely admire or criticise the content they had encountered. The continuous theft, unnoticed for a time long enough to let Wesselman develop a believable new online persona on another person's expense, caused the young woman a psychological unrest, a consequence that the thief failed to consider while progressing her malpractice. It is also important to remember that the trauma was not caused only by Gonzales's reaction to her image being used as a mean to deceive others, but comprised of discovering that her daughter was involved in the hoax as well.
The story presented in the film, provides a suitable example of a photographer struggling with identity theft, although, it is, undoubtedly, just one of numerous cases of online thievery and deception involving a well-known woman.
Identity theft, according to Saounders and Zucker (2010), is usually associated with illegally obtaining one's personal data in order to use their credit card or bank account. Accordingly, it might also refer to collecting a person's ID to perform various actions (from buying adult beverages to taking a loan) in their name. Whereas such definitions are still the most commonly used and accurate, as technological advancement progresses, people have started to share their identity online.
Blazka (2017) further links the concept to its traditional form by explaining legal consequences behind such activity:
“As online impersonations are a relatively new concept legally speaking, there are not always specific laws in place. Furthermore, with Section 33.07 of the Texas Penal Code under fire, it would be wise to consider whether existing laws, on either a state or federal level, might be positioned to provide relief. Each case being different, and the specific laws as written varying by jurisdiction, some of these legal theories might be seen as applying in the general sense.” (p. 37)
Communities like Facebook require providing real name and surname in order to use it correctly, although Mark Zuckerberg's Internet giant is, as for now, in a minority, since most networks allow their users to pick a chosen nickname. If identity theft is understood in the sense described earlier, one might rightfully assume that users of Facebook are more prone to becoming the victim of such thievery. The more anonymous networks, however, even when the anonymity is limited only to a name, play a more significant role in faking or stealing identity online.
To describe the reason why the users of aforementioned platforms are exposed to the danger of online identity theft in more detail, the phenomenon itself ought to be defined first. As Hancock (2009) describes it, “deception in the context of information and communication technology, or what I will call digital deception, which refers to the intentional control of information in a technologically mediated message to create a false belief in the receiver of the message.” (p. 3)
Deliberate deception among social media users - commonly called “catfishing” - derives its name from Nev Schulman's documentary “Catfish”. In his film, the director depicts his relationship with Megan, a young woman he met online, who later turns out to be Angela Wessselman, a middle-aged mother who has been posing as Megan by using pictures of a model, Aimee Gonzales.
Besides introducing the concept of catfishing to a larger audience, the film also illustrates the psychology behind the act. Schulman, eager to portray not only the motive of the catfish but also the feelings of the impersonated model, decides to additionally conduct an interview with Gonzales herself (who, at the beginning of their talk, has no idea that hundreds of her pictures have been used to fabricate a persona). Thanks to the director's efforts, the story in “Catfish”, as well as the interview with Aimee Gonzales, besides its educational aspect on the dangers of online relationships, also illustrates, even if not directly, the involved model's experience.
Most social networks offer picture sharing as a basic method of establishing a user profile; yet, their targeted audience might vary. While services like Flickr allow professional photographers to share their work, Instagram – being currently one of the most popular online platforms in general – tends to focus on more amateur work. According to Hu, Manikonda, and Kambhampati (2004):
“Nearly half (46.6%) of the photos in our dataset belong to Selfies and Friends categories with slightly more self-portraits (24.2% vs. 22.4%). We also notice that Pet and Fashion are the least popular categories with less than 5% of the total number of images. This corroborates with some of the recent discoveries in popular news media. Other categories – Food, Gadget and Captioned photo contributes to more than 10% individually but are approximately same among themselves. This is in line with the conventional wisdom that Instagram is mostly used for self promoting and social networking with their friends.” (p. 597)
Gonzales, despite being a professional model, used the Internet to share amateur pictures as well. As revealed in the film, while the young woman's artistic work was what had drawn Wesselman's attention, the personal photographs were used to establish a network of fictional profiles – a step necessary to make Megan's identity seem genuine.
Whilst discussing the catfish' methods, the questions might arise: why does one decide to steal someone else's identity to build a fabricated one online? How and why can a famous woman become a part of such forgery? To explain the reasons behind and causes of the first issue, it is necessary to understand the psyche and environment of Angela Wesselman. The film, especially the part after revealing the true identity of Megan, gives the viewer an insight into both of these factors, greatly helping to comprehend the concept of and logic behind catfishing.
The main factor affecting those who decide to stage a fictitious online life appears to be low self-esteem. An issue that existed long before the era of social media, or even the World Wide Web itself, seems to have increased due to the availability of access to the Internet. As Niemz, Griffiths, and Banyard (2005) discuss in their study:
“If people have a low opinion of themselves and find it difficult to socialize because of their shyness or lack of self-esteem, they may use the Internet as an alternative form of socializing, in which they can open up and gain confidence without having to interact face to face. However, as it was mentioned earlier, the direction of the relationship is unclear, as a low self-esteem may be a consequence of excessive Internet use, rather than a cause.” (p 568)
In the film, the viewer is introduced to the real personality and life of Angela Wesselman. The middle-aged woman lives with her youngest daughter and second husband, Vince, in a small town in Michigan. The family's life revolves around Vince's two sons from his previous relationship – both of them are severely mentally handicapped and require continued medical care, and the parents' attention. Though Angela is fond of her step-sons and is the person responsible for fulfilling most of their needs, she expresses grief over her career as a painter that she has never had a chance to further pursue due to her commitment to Vince's children.
In her limited spare time, she continues to paint (although does not have a platform or an ability to share her work with a wider audience), but also tries to find a way to the fruition of her fantasy of a life she has never managed to experience. She decides to create a Facebook profile, where she poses as her daughter, Abigail, shares her paintings as the girl's, and, finally, befriends Nev, the director of the film. As their friendship continues, Angela's lies – but also the relationship - become more complex. The woman sends Nev her original paintings (while still pretending they were Abigail's), and claims that the girl has her own gallery in Michigan.
This part of Angela's continuing deception is well illustrated in the beginning of the provided explanation of how low self-esteem plays a role in online identity theft. By claiming to be Abigail, she can experience – however faint and artificial – the feeling of being a young and critically acclaimed artist. After years of being able to only fantasise about reliving her youth and achieving fame, when the dream materialises in online world, Angela becomes more indulged in her lies than she initially planned – which supports the claim that identity theft is not just the result of low self-esteem, but can also be caused by easy access to the content available online. Boyd (2008) explains Angela's mindset to even greater detail:
“Imagine that you are screaming to be heard in a loud environment when suddenly the music stops and everyone hears the end of your sentence. Most likely, they will turn to stare at you and you will turn beet red (unless exposure does not bother you).” The author also describes why it was easy for the older woman to create such elaborate lie: “Participants were not likely to post secrets, but they often posted information that was only relevant in certain contexts. The assumption was that if you were visiting someone’s page, you could access information in context. When snippets and actions were broadcast to the News Feed, they were taken out of context and made far more visible than seemed reasonable.” (p. 14)
Although not clearly stated in the film, it is suggested by Wesselman's further actions that pretending to be Abigail, however joyful it might have seemed at the beginning, would not fulfill all the expectations related to the Internet friendship the woman has developed over time.
Through Abigail, she desired to feel youthful again, which, at the beginning, she achieved. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the girl, oblivious to her mother's actions, was only eight years old, both in reality, and Angela's shenanigans. As it is revealed at the end of the production, the woman did, in fact, started to falsely believe that the world she had created truly existed, but it did not happen up until establishing a whole group of fake facebook identities. At the point of realising that the character of Abigail might not be sufficient for her needs, Angela was fully aware of what she was doing, and, most importantly, of her authentic identity, and hence, emotions.
What was previously the aim, has become an obstacle, as the woman started to – genuinely – develop romantic feelings towards Nev. Abigail's age, despite being the most important factor preventing any kind of an emotional bond other than friendship and admiration for talent, was not the only reason behind Wesselman's decision to indulge into even more complex deception.
The idea of admitting the lies to the man, and thus proving herself to be dishonest and untrustworthy was upsetting the woman, yet, surprisingly, not as much as revealing her actual, physical frame. Such thinking might paint Angela as shallow and deprived of principles in the viewer's eyes, but one should not forget the circumstances surrounding the already perplexing situation.
Knowing Nev to be in his mid-twenties at the time of encountering Abigail, Angela suspected that he would most probably not be interested in a relationship with a much older woman, focusing on this fact even more than on her already having a life partner. She also deduced that even if those two matters were somehow overcome, her physique might have played a deciding role in stopping any further romantic involvement. Such realisation greatly distressed Angela, which exemplifies the validity of Niemz, Griffiths, and Banyard's theory.
Wesselman's insecurities, deepened by her use of the Internet, did not, however make her refrain from continuing the relationship with Nev. Being aware of the legitimate happiness posing as Abigail had initially provided her with, she decided to create another fabricated online identity, which would not only be an embodiment of past desires, but also the current ones.This stage of Angela's deception was when Aimee Gonzales, unbeknownst to her, became involved, and where the famous woman's experience with identity theft ought to be explained in greater detail.
Gonzales' was de facto not introduced in “Catfish” in person, yet her involvement was equally as important as Angela's. The viewer has a chance to familiarise themselves with the image of Gonzales through many pictures of her shown in the film, yet not only, at the beginning, does not see the model and photographer directly on the screen, but also does not learn her true identity. The reason for such bizarre participation was Angela's aforementioned decision to not abandon her fraudulent online activity because of the limitations of Abigail's persona.
The Internet was the Washington-based model's main platform to share her work, both as a photographer and a model. She used networks aimed especially at people interesting in photography, but also websites like then-popular MySpace, where she posted more personal and not professional work. Fully aware of praise and criticism resulting from sharing any kind of craft online, Gonzales had not expected her pictures to be misused in any way. When asked about “Catfish” and her reaction to Wesselman's actions, in an interview conducted in 2010 by Gina Piccalo, the model admitted: “She [Angela Wesselman] went to my MySpace page, my Model Mayhem page. She was even quoting things that I would say on my pictures and she would use that on her own pictures.”
How exactly Angela found Gonzales' work remains unknown, yet it is not difficult to understand why she chose the model's image to be the face of her newly invented character. Bearing in mind the older woman's already existing and newly developed self-esteem issues, as well as her unreciprocated romantic attachment to Nev, Aimee's persona appears to be what would alleviate the problems had Angela had the chance to possess the model's physical features. What was undoubtedly not possible to attain in an offline world, became certainly achievable online. Encouraged by the success of Abigail's bogus profile, especially after gaining enough experience in using a fake online persona thanks to it, Angela constructed a completely new character, a nineteen years old Megan Faccio.
This is the name the viewers know Aimee Gonzales by in Schulman's production. Soon after establishing Megan's profile, Angela tried to use it to befriend Nev again, this time as a woman in her late teens (to validate the sudden Facebook invitation, Megan was introduced as Abigail's older sister).
As the relationship between Nev and Megan quickly developed, Niemz, Griffiths, and Banyard are proven to be right yet again. Angela became even more invested in pursuing the lie as Megan (but did not stop to contact Nev as Abigail, hence her new remained to seem genuine to the man). The preference of the character of Megan can be explained by both alleviating Angela's problems with self-image and the enacted possibility of romantic interactions.
As mentioned earlier, Abigail's fake persona allowed Angela to, however briefly, fulfill her artistic ambitions, and Megan Faccio, accordingly, personified the physical qualities the woman desired in order to form a stronger bond with Nev. The existence of Abigail's older sister profile can be explained from the perspective of both the catfish and the catfished, the first clarifying the reason behind its creation, the other describing the outcome and consequences, in this case, experienced by a famous woman.
In Rob Frappier's interview with Nev Schulman, his brother, and a friend, who helped to shot and produce the film, the director talks about his attitude towards Megan, and his attachment to the sisters met online:
"The depth of the interaction and the extent of it was much more personal for me. (...) And it’s been a great lesson in sort of understanding why you allow yourself to, or convince yourself of something that you want — and the power of flattery and the fantasy and the escape element in all of us, in that we want something that doesn’t make sense or is unobtainable. (...) I guess I was at a point in my life where I felt like, okay, I’d like to get to the next level with a woman. I’d like to feel a really deep connection with someone, as I think everybody does, and I hadn’t found that in New York City. And so, when something came along that was so different and so unusual that I thought, “Maybe that’s why. Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right place.” Maybe there’s something so organic and genuine about this family that it will sort of take me out of this world that hasn’t worked, in regards specifically to the perfect girl, and I’ll find it somewhere else where I would least expect."
The quote, obviously, describes Nev's opinion and feelings, but can also be used as means of understanding Angela's emotions and logic. Being in a relationship where the needs of the children were the most important issue, Angela might have longed for the romantic connection she once experienced with Vince. Even though the circumstances were clearly different, as the woman thought she lost the attachment, and Nev had never been in love, they both deduced that a loving partner was what they desired at that time.
They considered, after becoming Facebook acquaintances, that they would try to find their significant one in a place different than usual – for Nev, a native New Yorker, it was Michigan; Angela looked online for what turned out to be a refreshing, but ultimately specious bond, which involved two more, unsuspecting, yet truly affected, people – Aimee Gonzales and Vince Pierce.
Accordingly, feelings seem to be the most important among Nev and Angela's shared experiences. “Organic and genuine”, they let both of them believe that they had found exactly what they needed. Although it might appear bizarre that a man would genuinely fall in love with a woman he has only ever seen in pictures (and, later, on the phone, heard what was supposed to be Megan speaking), it is, at the same time, not unimaginable; even though there was no physical contact, communication and appearance – both essential in forming a bond – were present.
The catfish' emotions, however, happen to be more difficult to understand. While Nev had no idea he was being misled, Angela, despite slowly losing sense of reality, still knew the basis of the relationship was artificial. As mentioned earlier, a connection without any physical contact was sufficient for answering the woman's needs.
Though based on elaborate lies, the affair between the catfished and the catfish would most certainly not be possible without the engagement of Gonzales. The interview with Gina Picallo comprises not only of the description of Wesselman's online activity, but also describes the model's feelings. “Gonzales says: “Your natural response is, ‘Oh, it’s OK.’ And it’s not. It’s not OK.” Wesselman-Pierce even used the name of Gonzales’ 8-year-old daughter to identify an imaginary dead pet snake. “I definitely felt violated and just completely drained,” says Gonzales, who also has a son, 6. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so tired in my life.” The fragment allows a better insight into Aimee Gonzales' experience both as a person whose identity has been hijacked and as a famous woman sharing her work and image on social media.
What might draw the reader's attention first is the model's children being included in the scam as well. Although Wesselman was not aiming to hurt the children, identity theft is assuredly among the dangers the Internet possesses for minors.
Posting children's pictures and personal information online is prevalent among parents who use social media. Although majority of them does it simply to share the joys of parenting, the data, as any other information that enters the world wide web, might end up being viewed by a previously unintended party. Whether it is an online predator preying on children, or someone, like Wesselman, who does not intend to hurt the child per se, a minor's privacy can easily be jeopardized, which, if the child is mature enough to understand the situation, but not to confront it properly, can lead to serious health issues. Murburg (1994) states :
“The neurophysiological activation seen during acute stress is usually rapid and reversible. When the stressful event is of a sufficient duration, intensity, or frequency, however, these changes are not reversible. (...) In the adult, with a mature brain, the increases in catecholamine activity associated with the stress response may result in sensitization. In the developing brain, however, neurotransmitters and hormones play key roles in neuronal migration, differentiation, synaptic proliferation and overall brain development (Lauder 1988) and, therefore, the tremendous increases in neurotransmitter activity seen with severe or prolonged stress would be expected to have a significant impact on brain development.” (p. 4)
It is worth mentioning that the threats above were described as an experience of an ordinary parent and child, who, although are vulnerable to identity theft, usually do not get recognized and purposely searched for. A public person, however, attracts a bigger online following, which, most of the time, leads to the public being interested not only in their idol, but also in his or her environment. In extreme cases, such fascination heads to stalking, but it might take a less physically damaging (for the victim) and demanding (for the wrongdoer) form.
Aimee Gonzales, as a mother herself, besides her professional and amateur work, shared information and photos related to her family as well. Wesselman, in order to make the life she had crafted on Facebook more believable, decided to use the model's child's (and, as the film reveals later, other members' of the family too) persona. One might wonder: would the chances of Angela claiming the identity of the youngest members of the Gonzales family have been lower if the young woman was a private person? Since Wesselman never explained how exactly she found Aimee's photographs, in this particular case, it might seem impossible to give a direct answer to such question; however, there are certain premises that suggest the correlation between Gonzales' profession and her children being in jeopardy of identity theft. The easiness of finding a person modeling online, the number of available pictures (which Angela collected hundreds of), and, deeper than in the case of a private individual, interest in the famous' personal life, all contribute to Aimee Gonzales, as a famous woman, being in a greater risk of the theft of her and her relatives' image than someone who has not exposed themselves on the Internet to such extent.
The violation of the children's privacy is a serious and thought-provoking matter, and undeniably related to the model's work, yet it is not the woman's only concern linked to being catfished. In the interview, even before the mention of her son and daughter, Gonzales describes her first response – or what she thought would be her proper reaction – to the situation.
In one of her blog posts, Sara F. Hawkins, an attorney, reminds the reader:
“Nearly every photo taken gives the author (the one who takes the photo) a protectable right to prevent others from using or reproducing that image. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally, the photographer owns the copyright. This is actually very important to know should you ever hand your camera to someone else to take a photo.” (Hawkins, 2011)
The quote defines the legal aspect of picture sharing. Shortly after finding out about Wesselman's shenanigans, the model contemplated pursuing legal action against the catfish, yet later chose not to, as Piccalo's interview also discloses: “Initially, Gonzales considered reporting Wesselman-Pierce to some authority to see if she had any legal recourse. In the end, though, she decided to let it go. “She didn’t really financially gain anything from me,” Gonzales reasoned. “I’m not a person that really deals with confrontation very well. I just kind of avoid it. It didn’t make sense for me.””
Since there were no authorities involved, and the woman focuses on her emotional reaction to the theft, Gonzales' mental attitude needs to be construed in greater detail.
The first – and for many, the logical – response to someone stealing another person's photographs is that the uploader should be aware of the risks of publicising content online. From negative commentary to more malicious, or even illegal, actions, there is no method of fully protecting oneself from the dangers the Internet possesses, and since, a person, at least in the cases where no illicit activity was present, should not feel disturbed or upset by falling a victim to such wrongdoings. The conclusion seems to be especially relevant when the famous are involved, as, usually, they are fully aware of the reaching of the Internet and easy access to the shared data.
Gonzales', however, seems to disagree with aforementioned mindset. She admits to having felt “drained”, and refuses to simply ignore the situation she has found herself in. Although she does not openly provide a specific reason – besides, obviously, the unexpectedness and bizarreness of the situation – one might easily guess the model's conflicted emotions. Is Gonzales' chosen profession the main reason for her being exposed to such trauma? The quantity of and uncomplicated access to the pictures (also the professional ones) made her an easy target for perpetrators like Wesselman, who need a large amount of images to successfully pursue their lie.
In conclusion, the unexpected relationship between Aimee Gonzales and Angela Wessleman illustrates one of the dangers awaiting a famous woman who decides to use social media, especially when it is meant to be a tool for sharing the work that has made them a public figure in the first place. Personalities like Mrs Gonzales become more vulnerable to identity theft, not only because of its expanding definition, but also due to a complex combination of other users' struggle to manage their own emotions correctly and deeply rooted convictions of what physical and mental features are considered superior.
Thanks to Nev Schulman's film, one is able to understand two concepts that have already existed for a very long time – identity theft and problems with self-image – in a completely new way, as those problems both exist now, besides their traditional form, in their contemporary, online variant. Yet, first and foremost, the production is well suited to be an example that specifies and helps one introduce themselves to the issue this chapter is focused on.
Because of what was supposed (since, as mentioned before, the specific model's beauty and youth was what Angela thought Nev would be interested in) to be her assets, Aimee Gonzales fell prey to the unexpected behaviour of a member of her Internet audience, who, yet again, was initially meant to solely admire or criticise the content they had encountered. The continuous theft, unnoticed for a time long enough to let Wesselman develop a believable new online persona on another person's expense, caused the young woman a psychological unrest, a consequence that the thief failed to consider while progressing her malpractice. It is also important to remember that the trauma was not caused only by Gonzales's reaction to her image being used as a mean to deceive others, but comprised of discovering that her daughter was involved in the hoax as well.
The story presented in the film, provides a suitable example of a photographer struggling with identity theft, although, it is, undoubtedly, just one of numerous cases of online thievery and deception involving a well-known woman.
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