How To Respond to Unwanted Dick Pics and Nudes
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For some people, exchanging dick pics and sexting is a fun part of dating and getting to know someone. When you receive unsolicited dick pics or nudes, however, it can be a form of harassment, especially because of the lack of consent involved in the situation.
Some women are fighting back against unwanted sexts and dick pics in clever ways. Here are some of the brilliant responses to this unsolicited attention.
1. Tell their significant other.
Earlier this year, model Emily Sears and her pal Laura Lux caught the attention of a few news outlets for their response to unsolicited dick pics. After getting fed up with receiving dick pics from strangers, the women decided to explore each sender's social media profile to see whether the man was in a relationship or married. If a man is taken, the women inform his partner of what he's been doing.
Lux told BuzzFeed News in January that one man called her a "slut" after she told his girlfriend that he was sending lewd photos of himself to her. Lux saw that the woman called him "the best boyfriend ever" on social media and decided to tell her what he had done.
“I guess I felt really sad for her,” Lux said. “So I sent her a message with a screenshot of our conversation telling her that I was really sorry, but I thought she deserved to know how her boyfriend was behaving towards other women. I know if the roles were reversed and it was my boyfriend sending that shit out, I would want to know.”
Lux told ATTN: in a separate interview that women have reached out to thank her and Sears for their approach to unwanted dick pics.
"The response today has been crazy and overwhelming and extremely varied," Lux told ATTN:. "I've been told everything today from 'you're doing God's work' to 'go back to whore island you filthy attention seeking c**t' but the positive comments are definitely in the majority. We've both received some really touching messages from women and men alike who've reached out to thank us and encourage us, and that absolutely makes all the hate worth it."
2. Call it out on social media.
Flickr/David Shankbone - flickr.com
During the fall, actress Debra Messing publicly shamed a man who sent her an unwanted dick pic, arguing on Twitter that it's "never OK" to send an unwanted photo like that.
"Respect women," she wrote. "Respect yourselves."
Messing's decision to call out this type of behavior resonated with her followers and further exposed the problem of sending unsolicited dick pics.
3. Demand an apology.
Twitter - twitter.com
Earlier this year, a woman's experience with getting asked for nude photos went viral on Twitter. The woman, who publicly goes by her first name Michaela, tweeted that an old acquaintance named Ethan sent her an Edible Arrangement gift after he asked her for nudes and she jokingly said that he needed to send her an Edible Arrangement basket in order to be forgiven for this intrusive request.
"I was talking to this guy Ethan last year and then he asked for nudes so I stopped talking to him," Michaela told BuzzFeed News earlier this year. "Fast forward to this year and he tries to start talking to me again. I jokingly say I’ll forgive you if you send me an Edible Arrangement. The poor sap does and I ate it on the way to work."
Michaela told BuzzFeed News that Ethan further learned his lesson when a female friend learned of what he had done and called him a "fuck boy," an internet term that's often used to criticize men for acting sleazy, thoughtless, or inappropriate.
BuzzFeed - buzzfeed.com
Michaela's strategy was well-received by many on social media, with some women saying that they want to demand an Edible Arrangement basket the next time someone asks them for nudes.
4. Send these awesome artistic photos.
An artist named Stephanie Sarley was recently featured in The Huffington Post for drawing artistic photos of vaginas to challenge the pervasiveness of dick pics. As noted by Mic writer Nicolas DiDomizio, these images can also serve as a good response to unsolicited dick pics:
“It’s important for me to portray that vaginas aren’t something to be ashamed of, protect, hide away or control," Sarley told the Huffington Post. "Vaginas are really important to me. That’s why I do all these split leg caricatures with all these c*nts of different shapes and sizes. It’s just fun. It’s how I deal with all this bullshit women have to deal with on a daily basis."
