Tracy Clark-Flory admits to looking at those hacked celeb sexts—and feels bad about it:

I did it. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I did: I searched for the celebrity nudes stolen by a hacker over the weekend. It was an almost unconscious reaction, like pulling away when touching something hot—only the opposite. There are celebrity nudes? Rush toward them. It wasn’t sexual; I wasn’t looking to get turned on. I just wanted to know. What were these photos? How “bad” were they? As a woman in the world, I am all too aware of the perpetual possibility of being shamed or violated myself. It’s hard not to take such newsmaking events—regardless of whether they happen to a celebrity—as a warning. Besides, unless I searched for the images, I wouldn’t know whether they showed Ariana Grande delicately wrapped in a bed sheet or spinning sequined nipple tassels while juggling baby monkeys. My curiosity and concern, I told myself, shouted down the other voices in my head—the ones saying that these photos were stolen, that it was a violation of their privacy, that these women were being victim-blamed and slut-shamed for having taken these private photos in the first place. Sisterly solidarity, right? No—basic humanity.

I did it anyway.

“Oh, she’s so gorgeous!” I said out loud, when I came across the stolen images of Jennifer Lawrence. As though complimenting a woman while violating her privacy makes the thing any better.

Robin Abcarian says the outrage is ridiculous:

How long has this whole Internet thingy been going on, anyway? How long has electronic piracy been going on? Identity theft? How long have we known about phishing? How often have our public figures been told that if they don’t want to see something splashed on the front page, they shouldn’t engage in that behavior in the first place?

It’s pretty damn simple: If you don’t want people to see your naked body, don’t pose naked for photos that could be vulnerable to theft. No one can protect you from that kind of electronic violation. Isn't that pretty obvious by now?

Bullshit, says Van Badham at the Guardian:

Violation it is, too, because whatever the medium of communication between lovers (whether it’s a telephone call, a text message or the sexual act itself), the conversation is private and to intrude upon it is sexual involvement that has occurred without consent, and it has the same resultant harms. That a mobile phone used to facilitate a lovers’ conversation can also be used as a means of mass communication is irrelevant, because mass communication was in no way agreed to by the lovers, who had every right to believe their security would not be compromised.... There are suggestions that prosecution may result not only for the hacker of the photos, but for those who view and share them. Good. To excuse viewing the images just because they’re available is deplorable.

For my part... I haven't viewed the photos. Because that would be wrong. It helps that they're all female celebrities. We'll see how firm my resolve is when a bunch of male celebs get hacked. What about you, Blogtown?