Actor Chris Evans recently had what I’m affectionately calling a d*ck snafu on social media. He uploaded a screenshot of his phone’s camera roll, most of which were for publicity purposes. 

Evans seemed to have missed the tasteful black and white d*ck pic that was tucked away amongst the other photos. This d*ck oversight was made public on his Instagram Story and then quickly deleted. 

I’m a fan of Evans. I fell in love with his charming face back in the early 2000s when he starred in movies like “Sunshine”and “Push.” He gives off the persona that he’s a genuinely nice and funny person. He has eyes that radiate kindness—and god help me, that sexy beard. 

When I heard about the accidental d*ck slip, I didn’t think much of it. Accidents like this happen. He took the story down, felt embarrassed and made a great voting PSA out of it. 

If anything, we saw a really interesting response happen from his fan base. 

Several of Evans’ fans used their collective power to flood his hashtag on Twitter. They posted photos of the actor with puppies so that those images would appear before the dreaded screenshots in search results. 

These fans were organizing and urging others to respect Evans’ privacy by not disseminating the notorious photo any further. They wanted the community at large to respect Evans’ privacy, his family and to take into consideration his on-going struggle with anxiety. 

In the end the whole incident turned out to be funny and wholesome. It shows a growth in internet culture. That respecting a person’s privacy is important and that we all make a few mistakes. 

We also have to take into account that many of Evans’ fans are women. Women who undoubtedly still wanted to see what Evans is packing, but also understood the need for privacy and respect. They chose to support Evans rather than victim-blame him. 

Would this dynamic still have existed if he wasn’t a white, cis male? 

Would the internet community and media in general have been so kind? I find it doubtful. Evans was treated with greater kindness when he accidentally leaked his own photo than celebrity women who had their photos hacked in 2014.