Jennifer Lawrence posed topless. It doesn't give you the right to her private nude photos.

One of the more persistent and incoherent arguments in the wake of the celebrity nude hack of 2014, popped up again on Tuesday when Jennifer Lawrence's topless Vanity Fair cover story was released (she had posed for the magazine a month before her photos were released). The argument goes something like this — if Jennifer Lawrence (or any other celebrity) is posing topless in spreads for magazines, why is she so upset when her private nude pictures are hacked?

Felix Salmon, a journalist and usually pretty nice internet being, tried to make this flawed point on Twitter, highlighting a quote and pointing at the topless Lawrence photo that accompanied the story:

(Twitter)

Salmon isn't the first person to make this point. Kate Upton has posed topless (her hands covering her breasts) for Vogue and in bathing suits for Sports Illustrated, Rihanna posed nude on the cover of a French magazine this year, and you'll often see celebrities in nude shoots for high fashion magazines.

But the point that Salmon missed is that the difference is consent. Salmon realized his mistake, and said he is leaving the tweet up for "shame" purposes.

OK, apologies. My bad. Leaving it up for #shame purposes

— Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) October 7, 2014

Lawrence, in her interview with Vanity Fair, says the photos are a sexual offense.

"I didn't tell you that you could look at my naked body," she tells the magazine.

When celebrities pose for magazine photo shoots, they're in control of the images being produced and how those images will be distributed. Lawrence posing nude or topless in a photoshoot (usually with some artistic purpose) doesn't give anyone the right to see the actress's private photos without her permission. She is not an object to be passed around.

The idea that women's sexuality belongs to them, and that they are sexual beings, are not hard concepts to grasp.

That's what makes Vanity Fair's accompanying photos and cover shot so appropriate and powerful. Here is Jennifer Lawrence embracing her sexuality, in control of her body. This is what she's allowing you to see. She owes you nothing more.

Why can't people seem to wrap their heads around that?

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via