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AIBU?

To think that pic of the bare-tummied lady should not have been used?

156 replies

Chestnut99 · 23/03/2016 15:12

I am appalled at how many newspapers and websites have used the pic of the poor lady in an open yellow jacket/blouse who is sitting on a bench, dazed and in shock with her buttons blown off and her bra and tummy showing (Evening Standard yesterday, front page of today's Times etc etc). The least we can do for a victim of hideous terrorist attacks is respect her dignity, not plaster her over the media.

The Daily Mail has gone one further by finding a reason to repeat the pic today in a special "human interest" article naming her and telling us what her job is.

I would be utterly appalled if my own state of traumatised shock was taken advantage of in the same way, before I had come round and realised I was half dressed and showing my underwear. Shame on them all.

I'm not going to link to the pic because that will just make it worse. I am not usually particularly outspoken but I have complained to IPSO - //www.ipso.co.uk - about this because it intrudes on her privacy and her shock.

Poor woman - and poor Belgium Sad

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Palomb · 23/03/2016 15:13

I agree entirely and I said this to a colleague yesterday. The poor love has been through enough without having herself exposed to the whole world but the media.

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albertcampionscat · 23/03/2016 15:14

Yes! Completely agree.

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sooperdooper · 23/03/2016 15:14

I thought the same when I saw the photo, poor woman

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FishOn · 23/03/2016 15:14

I thought exactly the same thing when I saw it yesterday. She's been through enough - last thing she needs is that, poor thing.

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IpreferToblerone · 23/03/2016 15:20

Totally agree

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LittleLionMansMummy · 23/03/2016 15:23

I agree. Allow her some dignity ffs. Appalling.

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knittedslippersx2 · 23/03/2016 15:23

100% agree. This picture was not needed, not sure of the thinking behind it.

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PoreofWiner · 23/03/2016 15:23

I said the same to DH. How about a bit of dignity for someone who's just been blown up

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RainbowDashed · 23/03/2016 15:30

I thought this. There were a couple of other pics of individual victims that made me uncomfortable too but this was the worst. I think it's pretty grim that individuals are picked out like this and their stories plastered all over the world. I doubt she was in a position to give consent.

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StillDrSethHazlittMD · 23/03/2016 15:31

Yesterday one of the papers sites - and I think it was DM - included a photo from inside the airport. The ceiling tiles down, some Police or other agency personnel standing to the left and then to the right a lifeless body, face down, with blood all around their head. There was another body slightly further back but there was someone crouched with them. My assumption was that the person further back was alive (hence other person with them) and person at front was dead.

When I went back to the site about an hour later this picture had the person at the front pixelated so my assumption must have been right. Disgusted.

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bumblefeline · 23/03/2016 15:32

Yes some of the pictures have gone too far. Poor lady. It's bad enough as it is, let alone being humiliated.

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MrsTerryPratchett · 23/03/2016 15:33

I was thinking the same. Awful moment to have plastered all over the media and there is an aspect to it that I don't like. Why was it used everywhere? I think there were reasons, about vulnerability and fear, that are the exact reason it shouldn't have been used.

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annielouise · 23/03/2016 15:34

Completely agree.

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Botchit · 23/03/2016 15:36

Completely agree. To take a photograph of a person in such a horrendous circumstances, then presumably selling it to a newspaper is so depressing. It's a complete invasion of privacy.

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SaucyJack · 23/03/2016 15:38

I don't know.

I know the picture you mean- and I thought the same when I saw it- but in all honesty that thought probably would not have crossed my mind had it have been a flattering photo of a toned size 6 woman.

Do we know that she minds the photo?

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WanderingTrolley1 · 23/03/2016 15:41

Yanbu.

Allow the poor woman her dignity.

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IdealWeather · 23/03/2016 15:43

Actually the thought would have cross my mind if it had been a toned size 6 woman.

It's not because you are slim that you aren't allowed privacy, nor is it a reason that you won't feel humiliated/unconfortable to have your image all over the newspaper.

I have wondered if they have asked her first for her approval. After all that the one photo you see everywhere but I'm not sure what are the rules on that.

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FishOn · 23/03/2016 15:44

I don't think they should use a photo of anyone in a state of undress without their consent, regardless of what size she/he is

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Chestnut99 · 23/03/2016 15:44

Saucy - I don't think the shape of her makes any difference (although it might explain why it chimed with me ... Blush) - I think it would have undertones of salaciousness/voyeurism/sniggery pointing either way.

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coffeeisnectar · 23/03/2016 15:48

I just wonder at the mentality of people, who when faced with a situation of catastrophic events with people at their most vulnerable, feel the need to take their photo rather than offer some sort of help.

fucking parasites.

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SlimCheesy · 23/03/2016 15:49

I agree. The woman was injured, shocked, disorientated. There is just a voyeurism about it.

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BitOutOfPractice · 23/03/2016 15:49

It's ghoulish, voyeuristic and vile.

The poor woman

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SlimCheesy · 23/03/2016 15:51

coffee I agree... not even 1 hour later I was watching the BBC news and they had footage of people inside the departure hall with their camera phones out. The emergency services had barely arrived.

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NameAgeLocation · 23/03/2016 15:53

I agree. My first thought when I saw the photo was that she was clearly in shock. The poor woman. The clothes thing is neither here nor there really - she is being exploited regardless.
I read that the basketballer's parents saw him in photos (with a clearly severely injured leg) and that was how they found out he had been caught up in the bombing.
It's appalling and I resent being used as a way of exploiting these people, who are later identified with names and occupations!

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ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 23/03/2016 15:56

There was actually a very thought-provoking article online last night about this very photo, can't remember on which site now, but the tone was kind of "look, this can happen to anyone, it doesn't just happen to gorgeous young girls on Erasmus bus trips but also to your average woman at work"

I don't, tbh, see any difference between this photo and the one of the 9/11 woman that became known as "the" iconic picture of 9/11. The woman who looked as if she was covered in flour, when of course it was debris.

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