The Terms and Conditions of Fame: Privacy as a Privilege Rather than a Right

By Olivia Blizzard
Opinions Editor

Recently, as I’ve scrolled through social media, I’ve noticed an increased amount of hate for influencers or actors or pop stars that have set clear boundaries with their fans. Notably, Chappell Roan has been hit with an insane amount of backlash for telling her fans that while she’s in public, she doesn’t want to be harassed with pictures or videos or autographs that’ll disrupt her time with her loved ones or even time for herself. Many have called this selfish and entitled, since, well, you signed up for this job, and if you weren’t ready to take on the responsibility of being seen and admired, why bother being a singer or dancer or comedian or anything that involves committing your life to becoming a spectacle for millions of others?

I’m not sure I entirely agree with these critics, though. Does devoting yourself to self expression automatically mean giving up the right to not constantly show or express yourself? I feel as though this generation has a serious problem with empathy. Why do we think, because we’re not famous, that we have the right to poke and probe and stare at celebrities like they’re our own personal science experiments? Privacy is not a privilege, but a right, and the idea that any person should have to fight for their lives to remind the public that they have autonomy too is absolutely bonkers.