Akkam’s Razor

There’s a lot of salacious and prurient issues that get brought up regarding the red light district in Hamilton Village on UPENN’s campus, as well as some really relevant discussion on privacy and the nature of sexual harassment.  For the naughty parts, I suppose it’s really gratifying and amusing, until you realize that the “performers” are someone’s children, as is the photographer, and that more than a couple of lives are going to be changed forever if not ruined.

It’s also difficult to decipher who bears the blame for behavior such as this.  One thing is absolutely certain – none of this would have happened if the blinds were shut.

I’m pretty open minded, and certainly don’t care if someone was banging in an open window, so long as little kids aren’t around.  And I’m also okay with someone taking pictures of said people, who obviously must have known there was some chance of their being watched. Furthermore, I’m also perfectly OK sending said pictures all around the internet, so long as the “privacy”, at least as far as names and such of the actual subjects were obscured.  But that’s really not what this is about.

The only person who seems to escape criticism here is the guy in the picture.  The girl is bearing the brunt of the criticism, which I suppose is on some level sexist.  She should have known better, but the guy gets a pass?  C’mon !?!  The photographer probably has as much to lose as the girl in said pictures – and the picture that everyone has seen (from College Humor to the front pages of the DP and the Daily News) isn’t even his.  The measures that the University wants to take are clearly out of line with whatever misdeeds he’s committed.  Furthermore, the author of the DP’s sensationalized article will have some questionable coverage forever tacked onto his portfolio (they shouldn’t have run the picture).

The saddest thing is the cruelty of some students to the “performers”.  In one regard, she/they get what they deserve – they may have wanted to have sex in public, but they really should have considered the consequences.  From what I hear, the girl is getting notes on her door, emails, instant messages, etc., from everyone.  The embarassment over this situation is certainly enough…does she really need more?

And along those lines, deciding to sue the DP or the photographer (which allegedly is being bandied about) and having someone else pay for her/their bad judgment is inexcusable.  The more they draw this out, the greater spectacle it will be – I prophesy t-shirts, bumper stickers, key chains, an entire cottage industry springing up from this…