Sometimes writers share an anecdote about their own life to add a bit of colour to a feature story. This is not one of those times. Photos of yours truly as a toddler in horrible plaid overalls, or the grade one school photo with my hair sticking up —and especially that ill-advised perm —will not be forthcoming.
Maggie Goldenberger probably wishes she too had more say about how one particular image has been portrayed on the Internet.
An awkward photo of her as a pre-teen recently graced Vanity Fair’s website, featuring an unfortunate hair style (we’ve all been there), a retainer on her teeth, and a vest that would otherwise never make it to the magazine. The story generously points out her “grotesque expression.” Nice.
The magazine explains that in 2012 Goldenberger was on a six-month trip to trip to India and the Philippines with limited access. A friend in the U.S. wrote to tell her that she had seen the aforementioned photo on Facebook, captioned “Ermahgerd Gersberms.”The photo went viral, with more than five million clicks on the website Know Your Meme.
Goldenberger told the magazine “I just can't believe this is my 15 minutes of fame—I was hoping it would come in another form. But I guess you have to take what you can get.” Her friends still enjoy revealing her identity to strangers. “I have to fake-laugh as if I haven’t seen them all before,”she says.
The photo was taken when Goldenberger was having fun dressing up in silly costumes with her friends, which makes it a lot less embarrassing than if it was an authentic moment, she says.
Of course Goldenberger isn’t the only one who has been subjected to this type of unwanted fame. For others, their notoriety was more painful.
*****
Kelly Martin Broderick wrote about being “fat shamed”in a blog post on the website xojane.com.
Her photo was stolen and turned into an anti-feminist meme in 2013. It went viral overnight, generating 10,000 likes, and almost 1000 comments. Concerned friends called to warn her, and her boss broke the news that it was also on Tumblr.
Not happy, she tried to have Facebook remove the photo, only to be told that it didn’t relevant privacy laws. Angry, she started her own Tumblr account, called We are what feminists look like.
********
John Mueller is a professional photographer, so his issue with having his photo stolen has more to do with the copyright issue than the meme itself, which he admits is funny (he’s right).
He writes on petapixel.com that he was trying to take a photo of himself tossing his young son in the air. When his son wouldn’t cooperate, he took shots of himself and the boy separately, and Photoshopped the images together.
Like Broderick, he tried to have it removed from Facebook, but discovered it was making the rounds on other social media, including the front page of Reddit.
******
It’s hard enough for adults to deal with the public shame of being turned into a meme against their will, but what if it’s your kid?
Ashton Hamner was horrified to find that photos of her happy, healthy 16-month-old daughter Lennox had been stolen, and were being circulated with offensive slogans on them.
"They were making fun of her for being bald and saying she had cancer and that I should kill her and that she was retarded and really hateful things,” Hamner told waff.com in Alabama.
In this case, Facebook removed the photos after Hamner reported them.
*****
Helene Sula’s stolen photo was turned into a political message meme —unfortunately one that she doesn’t agree with.
She took a photo of herself crying when she didn’t like her hair colour after leaving the salon. Sure, that’s a first world problem, but she has a right to share her experience and not be accused of being against Obamacare —and spelling.
She wrote that she voted for Obama twice, has Obamacare and found it easy to sign up for, and never expected the health insurance to be free, despite her meme.
If you haven’t already done so, check your privacy settings on Facebook, Instagram and wherever you share your photos.