Definition of Voyeurism

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In the United States, our privacy is becoming less and less every day. There are video cameras surrounding us everywhere, the government can track our cell phones, and anyone can see everything we post on the internet. However; the topic I chose, voyeurism, is defined as the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature. The term comes from the French voyeur, "one who looks" and a male voyeur is commonly labeled "Peeping Tom". But in this day in age, what exactly is defined as “spying”? Especially in today's society, the notion of voyeurism is unclear. Reality shows like Big Brother, Jersey Show, and The Real World give us an inside and intimate look at complete strangers’ lives. Although these shows do not necessarily count as "voyeurism" in its original definition because whoever signs up for the show situations is aware of their TV audience. I think that I will learn more about this topic but I don’t think there can exactly be clear line drawn on what constitutes voyeurism or not. It is so much more than just looking through someone’s bedroom window.

To begin with, I wasn’t quite sure exactly what voyeurism is so I looked it up and it seemed really interesting. There are so many stalkers and creepy people in this world that I decided to look into it some more. I used the ASU online library page and searched “voyeurism” but a lot of weird poems came up so I went straight to Ebsco Host and found a lot of really interesting, detailed articles about my subject. I pretty much just used voyeurism as a key word and I selected articles that had to do with the history of voyeurism and how it relates...

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...ism and the Guilty Pleasure of Consuming Reality

Television. Media Psychology, 13(3), 201-221. doi:10.1080/15213269.2010.502871

B. J. Rye, Glenn Meaney . Voyeurism. International Journal of Sexual Health, Volume 19,

Number 1 (February 2007), pp. 47-56,

Embry, B. (2011). The ‘Naked Narrative’ from Noah to Leviticus: Reassessing Voyeurism in

the Account of Noah’s Nakedness in Genesis 9.22-24. Journal For The Study Of The Old

Testament, 35(4), 417-433. doi:10.1177/030908921038634

In congress - video voyeurism. (2005). Privacy Journal, 31(3), 7-7.

http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/21523382?accountid=4485

Tudor, R. J. (2010). Romantic Voyeurism and the Modern Idea of the Savage. Texas Review,

31(1/2), 94-113.

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