Naked pictures: why take them?

[Neverhoodian]

So I was reading the following forum topic and it got me thinking:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.830317-League-of-Legends-player-posts-revenge-porn-of-girlfriend-because-she-used-an-overpowered-character

What strikes me as odd about stories like these (besides the whole "scumbags that resort to revenge porn" bit) is why someone would take naked pictures or videos of themselves if they had no intention of displaying them to the public. In this day and age of instant communication and media sharing, you'd think the potential risks of such actions would far outweigh the benefits.

Call me uptight and old fashioned if you like, but I'm of the "what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom" mentality. Consensual exposure is an act of intimacy, vulnerability and trust. As such, the thought of recording it in some form for posterity is utterly alien to me, particularly if it means running the risk of someone using it as a weapon against you.

Just to clarify, I am NOT trying to blame the victim here. Anyone who posts "revenge porn" is a despicable excuse for a human being and, in my opinion, deserves jail time for it. I'm just wondering what the reasoning is behind recording one's nudity for private purposes.

Captcha: "Start for Only $1"

Uh, no offense Captcha, but you're really creeping me out right now.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Well, as you said it's about intimacy and trust.

I mean, come on, you know exactly why people send those kinds of photographs.

Anyone who sends those kinds of photos trusts that the other person won't pass them on.
People do it because it's a bit of fun, it's a turn-on for a lot of people and, as I said, they assume that it will remain private. When it comes to sex and/or relationships, people aren't notorious for their rationality.

You can call it naive and stupid and maybe it is but I'd be more inclined to blame the person who violated that trust.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I know celebrities do this to get a headline. I don't know why regular people would do it though.

 

[Vegosiux]

Well, I'm one of those people who think "If anyone wants to see me naked they're gonna have to do it live."

I hate having pictures of me taken in any case.

 

[ShipofFools]

Hey I got/used to have naked pictures of my ex. No worries, trust has not been breached.

As for why...

WHY?

Why do you ask, man? Isn't it obvious?

 

[Shadowstar38]

If the person isn't there in person, you can sexually pleasure yourself with their photos

well that wasn't hard to explain.

 

[PFCboom]

I'm about to sound patronizing, insulting, offensive, or just plain politically incorrect. I don't mean to, but I'm about to.
Believe it or not, sometimes a person - you'd best believe this applies to both genders - likes to feel sexy. Sometimes, this might include showing off their body for pictures and videos.
Intimacy and trust don't necessarily have to be part of it, if Omegle and Chatroulette have any say in the matter. I have personally witnessed some fine ladies, who are almost complete strangers, posing and exposing themselves because they get a charge out of someone else appreciating their body.

Yes, I'm a guy. No, I don't fully understand the inner workings of a female's psyche. No, I don't fully understand the inner workings of most males, for that matter. What I DO understand, however, is that a lot of people have a fundamental desire to feel desired. This is why we work out or watch what we eat. This is why we pay attention to what we wear. This is why guys get self-conscious about penis size, and women get self-conscious about breast size. This is why plastic surgery is a thing.

Furthermore, when a man and woman love each other very much, one might occasionally feel the desire to please the other, even if there's no tangible reward. This is why being good at sex - at all stages - is a big deal. Yes, it's partly about personal pride, especially on the male's part, but how else do you explain both men and women striving - striving, I say! - to get really good at oral sex?

Anyway, that's two reasons why people take naked pictures. 1: It makes the person feel sexy, and 2: They do it because they get a charge out of pleasing the other person.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Because its sexy.

I'd never do it, though. I've had one naked picture taken off me (By a girl friend who ambushed me), and I made sure it was destroyed. I've had a few naked pictures sent to me as well, which is sexy, as previously mentioned, but I would never release them (Indeed, I delete them when I stop dating the individual).

When we were in Iraq, the females in my unit would send naked pictures back to the states to their boyfriends and husbands to keep them interested/have some sexy times. However, they used shared computers to send the emails, at which point a Captain in our unit scavenged the files from the Temp folder. I had to look through them when we confiscated his computer.

Knowing what all your co-workers look like naked is not as amusing as you'd think.

Anyway, pro-tip - If you send naked pictures around, make sure you do so from a secure computer. Otherwise your going to end up on 4chan.

 

[HardkorSB]

What strikes me as odd about stories like these (besides the whole "scumbags that resort to revenge porn" bit) is why someone would take naked pictures or videos of themselves if they had no intention of displaying them to the public.

People grow old and their bodies change for the worse.
When that happens, some of them will want to reminisce about the times when they were young and looked good.
Pictures and videos help with that.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't quite understand it myself, but I can see why people would do it. Though I think people put more trust into their lovers than they probably should, especially teenage girls. I remember plenty of guys sharing pictures girls sent them back in high school. I always felt pretty bad for the girls, but I wondered why they would send pics to guys they weren't even dating, which happened in some cases.

For married and serious couples it makes more sense, especially if they have to be away from each other a lot for school, work, or military reasons. For relationships that aren't well established, I would recommend not send pics to your lover if you really really REALLY care about your privacy.

 

[Xdeser2]

I'd go with the intimacy and trust side of it.

It's fun and sexy to do it with someone you like, and when you're in the heat of the moment you aren't thinking ahead to the moment where that person could potentially betray you because of some petty argument.

I cant really ever see myself posting someones pics like that just to satisfy some fucked up revenge fantasy :/

 

[Wraith]

I'm about to sound patronizing, insulting, offensive, or just plain politically incorrect. I don't mean to, but I'm about to.
Believe it or not, sometimes a person - you'd best believe this applies to both genders - likes to feel sexy. Sometimes, this might include showing off their body for pictures and videos.
Intimacy and trust don't necessarily have to be part of it, if Omegle and Chatroulette have any say in the matter. I have personally witnessed some fine ladies, who are almost complete strangers, posing and exposing themselves because they get a charge out of someone else appreciating their body.

Yes, I'm a guy. No, I don't fully understand the inner workings of a female's psyche. No, I don't fully understand the inner workings of most males, for that matter. What I DO understand, however, is that a lot of people have a fundamental desire to feel desired. This is why we work out or watch what we eat. This is why we pay attention to what we wear. This is why guys get self-conscious about penis size, and women get self-conscious about breast size. This is why plastic surgery is a thing.

Furthermore, when a man and woman love each other very much, one might occasionally feel the desire to please the other, even if there's no tangible reward. This is why being good at sex - at all stages - is a big deal. Yes, it's partly about personal pride, especially on the male's part, but how else do you explain both men and women striving - striving, I say! - to get really good at oral sex?

Anyway, that's two reasons why people take naked pictures. 1: It makes the person feel sexy, and 2: They do it because they get a charge out of pleasing the other person.

This.

And sir, you did not do any of the things you said you were going to do in the beginning. That explanation pretty much covers it.

People do this, because they want to feel sexy and they trust that the other person won't be a dick about it. Obviously, as the internet shows, not everyone can handle having someone flash them a pair or breasts. So in my opinion precautions must be taken.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I put it like this, you take pics of yourself, there's a high chance they'll get passed around at some point. If I were to do something like that with my wife it would never be saved on a wifi/ethernet plugged device.
Privacy means something to me.

 

[DeimosMasque]

My lady's job is to have naked pictures of her put on the internet so to me it's just sort of a non-issue.

Before that though, yeah its intimacy and trust. Also a way to have your SO masturbating to you rather than to someone else. I actually still have some naked pictures of an ex. And some naked pictures of close friends who I've been intimate with in the past so to me it's just natural.

 

[hazabaza1]

Cos it probably feels better to think that if you're not local your significant other is jacking off to you and not random porn star #74635

 

[Do4600]

If it were up to me the only time I would wear clothes is to protect myself from something. I just don't understand why people would be so mortified to be seen naked, so really, why should you NOT take naked photos of yourself, it's not like you die the instant somebody sees them.

 

[Genocidicles]

I don't understand it either.

Sure, it can be sexy... but surely the risk of it being made public outweighs the sexiness.

 

[Billy D Williams]

This is a question that I can't really take seriously. I mean, when taken literally you are basically saying 'Why do something that would could/would make your significant other very happy that they could also use against you for revenge'. Well, the answer to your question is in the question, it could/would make your significant other very happy.

Now, if the question was 'How does somebody rationalize taking the risk of sending someone naked pictures?' that would have been better, but its still pretty obvious. Nine times out of ten its because people trust other people with intimate parts of themselves and that trust can be misplaced. My girlfriend lives a state away right now and Jesus H. Christ I would kill for some pictures, but she thinks its trashy so I'm pretty much screwed :\.

 

[ninjaRiv]

It's all about trust and intimacy. I have naked pictures of my friend on my phone right now and I'd never ever show anyone. Those who get their photos spread around clearly trusted the wrong people.