Table of Contents

CYBERFLASHING DEFINITION

UNWANTED SEXUAL ACTIVITY BEFORE CYBERFLASHING TECHNOLOGY
LAST THOUGHTS ON CYBERFLASHING

I was recently introduced to the term cyberflashing when it occurred at the beginning of a book launch party I attended. While I was listening, I wasn’t looking. Drat!

CYBERFLASHING DEFINITION

According to Medical News Today, cyberflashing is the act of sending someone unwanted and unsolicited sexual images or videos. This is typically done via social media, dating apps, text messaging, or Bluetooth, such as Apple Airdrop.

CYBERFLASHING CAUSES

In the study, The Predictors, Motivations and Characteristics of Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Scoping Review, the authors indicate that numerous factors play a role in the motivations for image-based sexual abuse (IBSA).

Those who scored high on the Dark Triad of personality were more likely to engage in IBSA. Those traits include Machiavellianism (interpersonal manipulation, a disregard for morality, and a drive to gain power by whatever means necessary), psychopathy (antisocial behavior, disinhibited behavior, and lack of empathy and remorse, and narcissism (egotistical admiration of one’s own attributes and appearance).
Sadism, defined as having low empathy and experiencing enjoyment from observing the suffering of others, both psychologically and physically, plays an important role.

A difference appears in gender, however. In men, psychopathy and acceptance attitudes of nude images were predictive of IBSA. In women, however, narcissism and liberal attitudes were indicators. Who knew?

CYBERFLASHING LEGISLATION

The Brits have had enough of it and passed legislation to criminalize the activity. The first prosecution for this behavior occurred approximately a year ago.

But the U.S. government has been slow to act. The Consent Act, a bill to establish a private right of action against a person who sends unsolicited visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct, was introduced in March 2024 but died in Congress. Fortunately, many states have addressed this issue.

CYBERFLASHING PREVENTION

Preparations necessary before hosting a Zoom meeting to prevent cyberflashing are exhausting. Wor-Wic Community College has a great list for you.

UNWANTED SEXUAL ACTIVITY BEFORE CYBERFLASHING TECHNOLOGY

Listening to all the hubbub got me thinking about what sexual abuse from an unknown perpetrator looked like before technology. Basically, it was up close and personal. A man opening his coat to expose himself is a classic example. As a young college student, I got so fed up with men in France and Italy grabbing my breasts as I walked by, I learned to give them a swift elbow in the ribs.

Back then, prank phone calls were the way to go. While many calls were irritating jokes such as:

Prankster: Is your refrigerator running?

Victim: Yes.

Prankster: You better go catch it.

Many others were sinister. Sexually oriented calls were such a nuisance that I was taught to immediately hang up and not engage the caller. My advisors said that if you engaged, the harasser would call frequently. These calls continued from the early days of the telephone until Caller ID in the 1990s put an abrupt end to the nonsense.

Streaking, running nude or semi-nude in public for entertainment or shock value, had its heyday in the 1970s. Check out this clip of David Niven being interrupted by a streaker at the 46^th Oscars in 1974.

In case you are down in the dumps reading about the darkness in our world, take a peek at this video of Ray Stevens singing The Streak (1974). It will make your day!

And what about mooning? I suppose the art of flashing your bare buttocks to show disrespect, protest, scorn, or provocation, as well as shock value. has gone the way of the streak. This venerable activity has been around since 80 AD.