When exactly did we agree that privacy was just a nice-to-have? Was there a public vote I missed, where we all decided that it’s totally fine for corporations, creeps, and the government to treat our bodies and identities like public property?
Because based on what I’m seeing, it sure feels like the answer is yes. Every time a mother drags her school-aged son into the women’s locker room, we’re told to smile politely and just deal with it. Apparently, the feelings of a grown boy and his mother matter more than the comfort and privacy of every woman and girl in the room. Sorry, but no — locker rooms aren’t co-ed just because someone can’t find a babysitter.
And then there’s the never-ending horror show in Starbucks bathrooms. How many hidden cameras do we need to find before coffee shops start handing out training manuals titled, “Don’t Record Customers Peeing — And Other Workplace Etiquette”? Seriously, how is this even a question?
Meanwhile, in the digital world, we’ve apparently decided that anonymity is an outdated concept — especially if you work in the adult industry. Facial recognition algorithms are now deployed like some dystopian snitch, digging through the internet to unmask legal, consenting adults. Because nothing says “technological advancement” like weaponizing AI to harass women out of their livelihoods.
And let’s not forget the TSA’s favorite party trick: full-body scanners. Can you imagine if those existed 75 years ago? Somehow I don’t think the Greatest Generation would’ve queued up for the privilege of being digitally strip-searched. But today? We call that “security” and pretend it’s normal. I’m just waiting for the TSA to roll out a Frequent Flier Punch Card — 10 scans and you win a free strip-search, body-cavity search included.
Of course, there have been all sorts of reports about TSA employees huddled in hidden rooms, oogling the breasts of female travelers on their scanners. The TSA — or as some of us have called it — “The Titty Surveillance Agency.”
But if you thought that was invasive, buckle up — because this society seems positively obsessed with strip-searching women and girls under the flimsiest of pretenses.
We’ve got schools strip-searching sixth-grade girls because some cop thought someone might be hiding $50 in their underwear. Fifty bucks. A sum so insignificant that it barely buys you dinner — yet somehow justifies the complete degradation of children.
Then there are the college students forced to strip because a tampon was mistaken for contraband. You’d think we were living in the Dark Ages.
And corporate America? No better. A Target male security guard took it upon himself to strip-search a female customer. In Kentucky, a McDonald’s manager forced a teenage female employee to strip totally naked and then took all her clothes. Why? Because some guy calling on the phone claiming to be a cop told her to do so. To top it off, she even called male employees into the back office to gawk at the exposed employee — before having her boyfriend come to the restaurant to watch her until the supposed cop would arrive. The manager’s boyfriend then took instructions by the caller to spank — yes, spank — the naked young woman and forced her to perform a sexual act on him.
This isn’t just a U.S. problem either. In Russia, a teenage girl was ordered by a male cop to remove her bra — all in the name of security. I’m sure she felt very secure afterward.
Where is the outrage? Why are we tolerating a culture where a woman, a girl, or a student can be ordered to undress on command — by a stranger, a guard, a cop, or any fool with a badge and a warped sense of authority?
This isn’t about prudishness or paranoia. Privacy is not just about surveillance cameras and digital footprints. It’s about ownership of your body. It’s about the right to not be treated like a suspect by default, or a piece of property someone else gets to inspect.
These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a broader, dangerous trend that says our bodies, our images, and our private moments are fair game for exploitation — as long as it’s done in the name of convenience, safety, or curiosity.
Well, I don’t buy it. And I’m not apologizing for saying so.
Privacy is not a luxury item for the privileged few. It is a fundamental right — whether you’re an adult worker safeguarding your identity, a woman expecting dignity in a locker room, or just someone who’d prefer not to be filmed mid-squat in a coffee shop restroom.
For those who still think these concerns are “overblown,” I have news for you: you’re either not paying attention, or you’ve accepted the role of background extra in your own surveillance nightmare.
We deserve better. And we damn well ought to demand it.
