Voyeurism and crime

Human`s technological advancements have been accompanied by voyeurism. When camera was invented in the 19th century, negative pictures appeared, and the rapid popularization of VCR in the 20th century was largely due to pornography. When Internet penetration was in its early stage, people said the shortcut to getting familiar with the Internet was to search for pornography. One of the major content distributed on social network services is also pornography.

Many paintings also carry human`s innate nature of voyeurism. Representative paintings include Susanna and the Elders painted by artists Rubens and Rembrandt. Two elders peeped into Susanna having a bath, and they lost their reason and threatened her to go to bed with them or they would accuse her of enticement. Susanna, however, rejected and she later won a trial thanks to Daniel`s fair ruling. This is a story from the Apocrypha.

This story served as a case to teach female virtue until the Medieval Age but in modern times was used as a means to draw the naked body of a sexually appealing woman. Not only the elders but also the painter and audience became a voyeur.

Dano-do, the most favored folk painting by Shin Yun-bok, a painter at Joseon Dynasty, describes women washing their hair at a stream with breast open. The key point of this picture is two old bachelors with ponytail who are peeping into the women behind a huge rock. The painting describes the painter`s sneaky nature who avoided social taboo.

People who took pictures through mobile phones of an insane 20 something woman walking the street naked and spread it were convicted guilty. Court ruled that even if it is not a candid shot, taking images that can make someone humiliated and distributing them can be punished. The ruling made sure that sanctions can be imposed on people taking pictures at a public space. Last month, a reserve soldier who shoot a video of a couple having sex in a car parked on a roadside and distributed it has been arrested and sent to military police. Anybody can have voyeurism. But obsession that can raise problems in daily life or in society should be treated as a disease. Self-discipline comes first before law.

Editorial writer Heo Seung-ho (tigera@donga.com)