In the last twelve hours I have added a personal avatar to this site and then a few minutes later removed it.  How does one get comfortable with seeing yourself en femme?  How does one get over the fear that someone somewhere somehow will misuse my image?  Any advice?

In my case, I do not hide it. My friends, family members and colleagues see me en femme through facebook. Technically, misuse of other people's photos are prohibited by law here in my country (S. Korea).

barbie~~

Unfortunately, photos posted to facebook become property of facebook and no longer yours.

Quote from: LordKAT on December 07, 2013, 07:07:52 PM
Unfortunately, photos posted to facebook become property of facebook and no longer yours.

I guess copyright and misuse of photos are different legal issues. Facebook also provides various ways of protecting users' privacy:

https://www.facebook.com/help/www/428478523862899?rdrhc


In case of my country, the relevant law is as the following: http://koreanlii.or.kr/w/images/d/d7/DPAct_EnforceDecree.pdf

Many people were arrested and indicted as they intentionally took photos of some private parts of young women. If you upload a photo of other people for the purpose of harming them, then the police can pinpoint and arrest you. I think other countries also have similar laws.

barbie~~

Most likely true. I never had the desire to post photos, so never really ran into issues regarding them.

I can relate, I really had to screw my courage together to post an avatar. You look great, Katy!

Hugs,
Cindy

Quote from: Katy on December 07, 2013, 09:04:56 AM
In the last twelve hours I have added a personal avatar to this site and then a few minutes later removed it.  How does one get comfortable with seeing yourself en femme?  How does one get over the fear that someone somewhere somehow will misuse my image?  Any advice?

There are two different things at work, if one wants some anonymity they can mess with lighting, angle, and zoom. If one doesn't care about the anonymity part, sure put a nice personal photo up. What comes up in search engines may indeed out a person combined with a good photo. An example would be of posting about a real situation, perhaps at work, with real names or terminology used. Other people from the same workplace are also venting/searching similar matter, a link comes up in a search engine and -boom- there your real picture is.

Thanks, Cindy.  How kind you are!  You have certainly made my day!  Of course, one can only try to mask or minimize the ravages of time, not erase them. 

In the end I thought a profile shot was a compromise between being completely frightened to share anything and being foolhardy.  Perhaps in time as I become more confident I will throw caution aside and share some other type of photo.

Quote from: Katy on December 07, 2013, 09:04:56 AM
In the last twelve hours I have added a personal avatar to this site and then a few minutes later removed it.  How does one get comfortable with seeing yourself en femme?  How does one get over the fear that someone somewhere somehow will misuse my image?  Any advice?

I am very out in my community, my place of work, and friend and families.

I do not advertise and I am  certainly not an activists...

I know there are people who copy pictures of GLBT people and keep them in files and in web sites...

I do not have FB, youtube, tweet,  or any other "blog," I post and email with the full cognition that you never know where your post or text may show up.

In my personal life, I pay with cash or check, and minimize divulging personal information

BTW I do not consider myself "paranoid" just cautious.... aware of my environment

Quote from: Katy on December 08, 2013, 02:57:09 PM
Thanks, Cindy.  How kind you are!  You have certainly made my day!  Of course, one can only try to mask or minimize the ravages of time, not erase them. 

In the end I thought a profile shot was a compromise between being completely frightened to share anything and being foolhardy.  Perhaps in time as I become more confident I will throw caution aside and share some other type of photo.

You're very welcome, Katy. Like you, I'm also scared to post anything too identifying. I'm still gradually (and nervously) coming out of my shell.

Hugs,
Cindy