Archives for June 2013

Health Magazine: Street harassment should not be taken “lightly”

June 20, 2013 By Contributor

In response to a blurb in Health magazine that treats street harassment as a compliment, SSH reader Nicole sent them this letter, and gave me permission to share it on the blog:

Dear Editor,

I recently came across a clipping from your magazine which included a list of “What Shouldn’t Make You Happy But Does”. Included in the list was “Getting whistled at by construction workers. Yes, you’ve still got it.”

I was really appalled and disappointed to see this written in your publication. On the surface, it seems like an innocent, almost humorous comment. However, as a woman who is constantly “hollered” at and harassed by men on the streets, I do not think it should be taken so lightly.

It is not a compliment when a man, a stranger, whistles at a woman or says something under his breath as he looks her up and down. It’s disgusting, demeaning and unwarranted. Ignoring something like that takes all the dignity away from the woman.

More importantly, this statement is saying that women need men’s attention to be validated. This is the antithesis of empowerment. The majority of these men will holler at anything with a vagina. They don’t care about who you are or what you have going on in your life. When I’m walking down the street, I have somewhere to be. I was not put on that sidewalk to entertain or to be judged. So you’re right: this shouldn’t make us happy. And it never will.

Thank you,

Nicole Emerson and females everywhere

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NOTE: Nicole and SSH were originally told the blurb was found in Women’s Health Magazine, but on June 25, we learned it’s in the June 2013 issue of Health Magazine. Apologies to Women’s Health for this error.

Health Magazine: Street harassment is not a compliment

June 20, 2013 By HKearl

Dear Health Magazine,

The June 2013 issue of your magazine included a blurb titled, “What Shouldn’t Make You Happy But Does,” and one of the items is, “Getting whistled at by construction workers. Yes, you’ve still got it.”

Whistling is just one of the many forms of street harassment that 80 to 100 percent of women worldwide experience regularly, often starting around puberty. Street harassment also includes unwanted sexual comments, following, flashing, and groping in public spaces.

We are disturbed that a magazine whose very title is “health” would suggest that street harassment is okay and a compliment. It’s not. Instead, it is detrimental to women’s health and it impedes gender equality.

1. It reinforces the belief that a woman’s worth is pleasing men.

A 2007 report by the American Psychology Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls found that girls are socialized by the media, parents, and peers to believe that their worth is their sexuality and ability to please men. Street harassment reinforces this belief. The report listed scores of negative effects from the sexualization, including on girls’ and young women’s physical and mental health.

2. It contributes to self-objectification, which has many negative health outcomes.

A study in the Journal of Social Justice Research found that street harassment was related to self-objectification. Multiple studies have linked self-objectification with an increase in rates of depression, anxiety and eating disorders as well as lower academic achievement.

3. It makes women feel less comfortable in public spaces.

Women never know which person whistling at them may then yell obscenities at them, or follow them, or attack them. Most women have an underlying feeling of dread and fear when a man they do not know approaches them or sexually objectifies them in a public space. Street harassment and the fear of sexual assault typically make women feel less comfortable being in public spaces compared with men, especially when they are alone.

4. It causes women to change their lives.

Most women who experience street harassment, especially if they experience it often, change their lives in various ways to try to avoid it in the future. They may change their routes or routines or quit hobbies. Notably, of the 811 women who took a survey for a book on street harassment, 19 percent had moved neighborhoods and 9 percent had changed jobs because of harassers along the commute. Also, related to health, 24 percent said they paid to exercise in a gym instead of outdoors on at least a monthly basis and 10 percent had gained weight or kept on weight at least once as a strategy to try to avoid street harassment.

Additionally, street harassment – including whistling – impedes gender equality because it reinforces the belief that women should be pretty, not smart, compliant, not assertive, and that they should stay home instead of being in public places. Surely these are not messages you wish to support.

Instead of suggesting that street harassment is a compliment and okay, we hope Health magazine will publish an article in the future about the negative health outcomes of street harassment, why it is important for people to take action to stop street harassment, and what they can do.

Sincerely,

Holly Kearl, founder of Stop Street Harassment and author of Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women.

Co-Signers:

Collective Action for Safe Spaces

Defend Yourself

The Best Defense Program

Everyday Feminism

Everyday Victim Blaming

Feminist Peace Network

Hollaback! Baltimore

Hollaback! Brussels

Hollaback! Denver

Hollaback! Des Moines

National Council of Women’s Organizations

One Angry Girl Designs: “International Fashion Diva”

One Less Victim

She’s Somebody’s Daughter

UniteWomen

White Ribbon Campaign

Women, Action, and the Media (WAM!) Vancouver

Women’s Views on News

YWUA

Sara Alcid

Kate Appleby

Brooke Applegate

Eleanor Ball

Claire Biggs

Elizabeth Bolton, SSH board member

Katherine Broendel

Holly Brown

Nikki Cassidy

Kori Cioca

Sean Crosbie

Mandy Damon

Shaun Day

Samantha DeHoyos

Wendy Felton

Janet Good

Angela Hattery

Kristen Holcomb

Kerri Faith Kellerman, Activist, Scientist, Poet

Alan Kearl

Serena Kelly

Heidi Lentini

Matt Lentini

Salvatore Lentini

Rachel M

Amanda Mabry

Melissa Markotsis

Ebony Marshman

Rickelle Mason

Julie Mastrine

Jasmine Mathineer

Stephanie McAleer

Bonnie McCammond, Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Advocate; survivor

Erin McKelle

Patrick Ryne McNeil, anti-street harassment activist, writer

Ece Okar

Kelly Ormsby

Tressa L. Paquette

Nabin Kumar Pati

Salem Pearce

Georgette Pierre

Emily Resnick

Linda Sarsour ‏

Katie Schmalzel

Jenn Scott

Kimberley Anne Shults

Victoria Shuttleworth

Ursula Utsaha Singh

Tammy Stauffer

Larissa Dalton Stephanoff

Amber Stewart

Julia Strange

Lauren Taylor

Adrienne Tremain

Nikki Ummel

Patricia Valoy

Pavlina Valovitz

Jennifer Wallis

Beckie Weinheimer

Anna Whaley

Emily Williams

Abe Louise Young

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I submitted a Letter to the Editor and I sent a copy of the above in letter form to people at the magazine.

Take Action:

You can write your own letter to them too and also, here is a suggested tweet: Dear @goodhealth, #streetharassment is not a compliment, as implied in June issue, but detrimental 2 women’s health! http://tinyurl.com/pqmpml3

NOTE: I was originally told the blurb was found in Women’s Health Magazine, but on June 25, I learned it’s in the June 2013 issue of Health Magazine. Apologies to Women’s Health for this error.

H/T to @CuratorOfCuriosities

Let’s focus on the perpetrators

June 19, 2013 By HKearl

A lot of people have sent me links to this story:

“Hairy stockings sold in China are apparently the latest craze used to ward off sexual predators, according to a user on Sina Weibo — China’s Twitter equivalent — who posted a photo of the accessory that has gone viral.”

I do not think that fake hairy legs will ward of sexual predators… sexual violence is about an abuse of power, not untamed sexual desire. Plus, hairy legs are not ugly or disgusting; they are natural.

Also, I don’t think it would stop all street harassment. If a woman wore these, people would probably yell things about how ugly she is or that she’s a “dyke” or lesbian since street harassers often harass people who meet traditional, heteronormative beauty norms as well as those who do not, they just use different words.

I agree with Homa Khaleeli, who wrote about this and other “anti-rape” products for the Guardian, when she said, “There’s no shortage of wacky anti-rape products for women, but what we need is a shift in focus from victim to perpetrator.”

USA:Tzniut and Street Harassment

June 19, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Talia Weisberg, SSH Correspondent

As a female who lives in New York City, I’ve received my share of unwanted looks from guys. However, I’ve never really been the victim of anything worse than a creepy stare. Ever since I learned about the existence of the term street harassment, and especially after I started serving as a SSH Correspondent, I’ve tried to figure out why I’m an exception to the nearly 100% of women who have been harassed on the street. The only (weak) reason I could think of is because I’m an Orthodox Jew who mostly adheres to the laws of tzniut (SNEE-oot) in dress, meaning that I only wear skirts past the knee, sleeves that at least touch the elbow, and nothing low-cut or too tight.

If we accept my assumption for why I have never really been street harassed as true, one could argue that the solution to street harassment is for women dress according to tzniut. However, this solution would be unfair and ineffective for several reasons.

First of all, a woman’s mode of dress doesn’t always influence a would-be harasser. A few weeks ago, I began discussing street harassment with a group of my friends, who were unfamiliar with the term. After I described what constitutes street harassment, one of my friends – someone who also dresses according to tzniut – shared how she had been groped and stalked for several days while going to and coming home from school when she was in ninth grade. Hearing this friend’s story helped me realize that although it’s possible that how a woman is dressed may sometimes impact a man’s words or actions towards her, it isn’t the definitive cause for street harassment.

Another reason is because it’s women’s right as human beings to walk down the street, whether in a foreign country our own neighborhoods, without being harassed. We can’t blame the victim and tell women that it’s their job to protect themselves from street harassment; instead, we have to tell the perpetrators not to harass women on the street. Although I have chosen to dress in the manner of tzniut, and perhaps it has spared me from being victimized by street harassment, I strongly discourage women from dressing in a certain manner just to avoid street harassment. They’re our streets too, and we have every right to walk down them undisturbed.

Talia Weisberg is a Harvard-bound feminist hoping to concentrate in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her work has appeared in over 40 publications and she runs the blog Star of Davida blog (starofdavida.blogspot.com).

USA: Championing common decency

June 18, 2013 By Correspondent

By: Talia Weisberg, SSH Correspondent

In the typical scenario of street harassment, the perpetrator is a man. As a result, in order to end the occurrence of street harassment, men must be sensitized to this issue. It is imperative that activists make men aware of the impact their words and actions have on female passersby, as well as teach men about women’s inalienable right to walk on the street without being subjected to harassment.

I recently shared this sentiment with a few girlfriends, in context of a conversation about street harassment and activists’ efforts to encourage men not to harass women. “So should chivalry be brought back from the dead? If men begin to act chivalrously to women, won’t that be the end street harassment?” one of my friends asked.

The concept intrigued me, as I had never thought about this link before. Is chivalry the opposite of street harassment? I suppose that it is, in a way. Street harassment is when men use their words and actions to make women uncomfortable and violated; chivalry is when men go out of their way to ensure for women’s safety and do everything for her benefit.

So does that mean anti-street harassment activists should champion a return to chivalry as the solution to the issue? Personally, I don’t think that this is a wise course of action. Chivalry is a relic of the olden days, when women were considered second-class citizens that needed protection by men, the stronger sex. There’s no place for chivalry in modern society, where women are considered men’s equals.

Anyway, in almost every situation in life, I believe in the validity of the golden mean. There’s no need to go to either extreme; the middle road is often the most practical and desirable path. Chivalry is on one side of the spectrum, while rampant street harassment is on the other. The most practical, middle path is all about championing common decency. Women just want men to be polite and to respect their personal space.

Although I can’t speak for all of womankind, I know that I’m not looking to be put on a pedestal and fawned over. I don’t want men to put their coats on puddles in the street for me to cross. I’m just looking to cross the street without getting catcalled.

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