Creepy. Its kinda fucked up because this kid is getting loads more attention the more that people read about it. But soon enough, some other "hot piece of barely legal ass" will come around and distract all the idiots away from her and on to obsessing over someone else.
It doesn't make it right, but if she blends into the woodwork, it'll eventually go away.

"is a sports blogger's right to talk about how hawt a pole vaulter is *really* more important than her right not to be harassed?"

Talking about how hot someone is is NOT harassment. When photographers are hiding in her bushes taking pictures, papparazzi are going through her trash, and strange people are loitering around her house then she's being harassed.

There are pictures of me on the Internet. If I was amazingly hot (which I'm not) someone would invariably pass the photo to someone else, and so on. This could very well lead to my image being "well-known" on the Internet, with lots of individuals staring at me and thinking dirty thoughts.

Is that "demeaning" to me? Hell no. How is someone thinking I'm attractive demeaning, even if they are creepy. If anything, I could find that flattering.

She has a legal right to privacy and protection from the types of direct harassment that I described above, but when her personal information is released to the press (and that's all public record, sorry) along with images that were taken IN PUBLIC of her in skin tight clothing, what the hell does she expect? Is she totally ignorant of the existence of the web?

People's private sex tapes end up on the Internet. You can be damn sure that pictures of a hot chick taken for the normal press or at a public event are going to make the rounds on countless websites. To think otherwise is naive beyond words.

And for you to say what I quoted above -- apparently implying that we should consider censoring the free press and, heaven forbid, the Internet, the world's sole bastion of free expression and unlimited information exchange, all so a girl can be free of the consequences of her actions and the realities of life in human society?

Fuck you, seriously. I know you mean well, I really do, but that's the type of thinking that leads to oppressive Big Brother government. That mindset is what leads us to the idea of government as a parent, protecting our fragile little emotions from all the bad things like we're infants, resulting in a world where no one can say or do anything.

If you want to argue that people might want to consider the consequences of their actions on the Internet on a personal level, specifically how circulating pictures or information might hurt the people involved, then that's totally fine, but the instant you even remotely suggest that there should be limitations placed on someone's freedom then you are taking an aggressive action against my rights under the U.S. Constitution.

If that doesn't make sense to you, read a history book, particularly what MLK had to say on the subject of injustice.

good article, f'real. i totally agree that there should be market-driven consequences for the smarmy blogger jerkoff. a boycott or some such

although his speech is protected under the constitution and i'll not say there should be any form of legal ramifications, since i'm pretty sure posting "hubba hubba hubba" on the interwebs doesn't constitute harassment

So what about Fernando Alonso of Formula One? First place two years and running! Eh? EH?

In regards to the actual article: ugh. The internet sure is strange.

Yeah, why wouldn't your average teenager who isn't a celebrity expect sexualized pics of themselves to wind up on the internet? How naive of her to compete in sports wearing clothing that facilitates aerodynamics. What a slut.

I did read it and read it again and ..."Stokke read on message boards that dozens of anonymous strangers had turned her picture into the background image on their computers. She felt violated. It was like becoming the victim of a crime, Stokke said. Her body had been stolen and turned into a public commodity, critiqued in fan forums devoted to everything from hip-hop to Hollywood."

So she's uncomfortable with her picture being taken and circulated through the internet and some one thinking she's hot.
If you don't want you're picture taken don't go out where it can be taken.

It's not like they photoshopped her head onto a porn stars naked body.

Don't go out where your picture can be taken? You mean, like, outside? Wtf is this, Afghanistan? Go fuck yourself.

good luck trying to do anything memorable or exceptional in life then.

oh wait, never mind, just wait two years, we'll be able to google earth into her apartment.

thirty degrees left, enhance. enhance. enhance.
oh yeah!

dammit!
i hadta. i hadta go see! bitch NOT mentioning her name made me more curious.

it has special cognitave dissonance here on SG, since im used to women wanting people to look at them. but youre right, this is pretty lame. the first message board post i saw was crude, it went downhill.

also, she has a beautiful seriousness when she's focused on the sport, but the pictures where she smiles she really looks young. and to the prople saying she wears too little? whatever. she could be covered in cloth from neck to knees, people are still gonna perv.

If you think this sucks, you should head over to SA more often.

On a lighter note, "pole vaulter" is a hilarious title no matter who holds it.

I used to go to SA. i know how they roll.

these arent anonymous people, though. this is a easily recognizable young girl who is going to get minor press attention because shes good at her sport. this isnt a one time fat chick wearing party hats deal.

the more the internet fixates on her, the more potographers know they will be able to sell her photos. the more photos sold, the more invasive photographers will become. repeating cycle.

seriously, ive never known a pole vaulter by name. its a minor sport (olympic, sure, but so is flag dancing) the cycle has little to do with her sport and more with her beauty.

I dunno. It's harassment when some asshole drives by in a car and catcalls; why wouldn't it be when some asshole does pretty much the same thing online? If she wanted his opinion, she'd have asked.

Did I film her? No. Am I stalking her? No. Did I know anything about the girl or her problem until I read this article? Nope. I just said that she is an attractive girl, which is more of an obvious observation.

Ideally I shouldn't have even known about this story, considering that the main offenders all backed down as per her wishes. MissPhD was nice enough to bring it to the SuicideGirls community though. You gotta pay the bills somehow I guess.

Man up, Girthy. You said it, no one made you, and not being a stalker is kind of a low bar to set for yourself.

Ogling athletes has been around for thousands of years. It probably will survive the fall of this civilisation and the rise of the next, as it has before. It would take some major cultural upheaval to change it. The only issue is the manner in which it's done.

In what is arguably a more decadant age, the possibility of anything you do ending up online may be the new way for coming generations to reign in their own misbehaviour. The 21st century gentleman will be someone who doesn't have any embarrasing footage of themselves on the internet.

...And who the frel wants to look at fat kids on the internet? Are these people not very nice, or just plain bored?

*doesn't check the girl in question out to see what everyone's going on about*