Archives for February 2015

USA: Wednesday Addams and Street Harassment

February 24, 2015 By Correspondent

Tyler Bradley, Michigan, USA Blog Correspondent

YouTube star Melissa Hunter is an online sensation, with 186,000 subscribers, and her biggest hit video reached the digital viewing screens of more than 2.25 million, just last week. This video hits the point home on catcalling by examining what an adult Wednesday Addams would do.

This series features many comedic videos, several hinting at women’s issues, tackling reproductive rights, one night stands, and internet dating, but nothing has been so direct in terms of activism as the street harassment video.

This sketch demonstrates how Hunter visualizes Addams Family character Wednesday would respond to street harassment.

In this video, two stereotypical dudebros call at her, “You’d look a lot prettier if you smile,” and obscene phrases.

Then Wednesday Addams appears at the home of the two catcallers to confront them. At first, the two are convinced she has come to repay the compliment in a consensual way, but she has something else up her black Victorian-age sleeves.

Wednesday brings in three of her most masculine and muscular friends — not to physically harm them, but to compliment the harassers all day long.

The men engage in ironic conversation, twisting their actions against them. “They’re not welcome in our house,” they rant, expressing their concern that the compliments are unwanted and a form of harassment.

After the harassers threaten to call the cops, Wednesday tells them, “Most forms of verbal assault on public property are perfectly legal – isn’t that just twisted?”

She nails the coffin with her last quote, “Cheer up. You’d be prettier if you smiled.”

Similar to social experiments like “When did you choose to be straight?”, Adult Wednesday Addams reverses their argument by using their excuses against them.

Fighting fire with fire against sexual harassment by gender role reversion usually results in reinforcing gender stereotypes, like Buzzfeed’s “If Women Catcalled Men” or Funface’s “Women Catcalling Guys.” Hunter avoids this by not showing the different unwanted compliments her three friends would have said, with the exception of the heavy breathing by Bob.

It may alienate the male audience by depicting such a stereotypical hyper-masculine duo, making them less relatable to those participating in the institutional harassing culture. But, I don’t think Hunter should be too concerned. Creating parodies of fictional characters with strong cult followings can push the extremes of how viral a message can go, and this is just what Hunter has done.

Buzzfeed Video recently proved this is successful after releasing a strong feminist piece by creating a social justice parody of Harry Potter from Hermione’s perspective. They also address catcalling in this video, by the way. This video, much like Hunter’s, increases the viral state of a video, just by incorporating fictional figures with cult followings.

The lesson we’ve learned from Hunter is that popular culture is an excellent venue of advocacy and activism. They offer relatability in terms of massive followings, they’re comedic, and they help advance under-recognized causes.

Thank you, Melissa Hunter, and let’s hope you bring more of your third wave feminism to your future uploads!

Tyler is a senior majoring in graphic design at Saginaw Valley State University and plans to undertake a graduate program in higher education in the fall. Follow Tyler on Twitter, @MysteriousLuigi.

“I was afraid of being ignored or laughed at”

February 24, 2015 By Contributor

I was walking from Brixton Market to Brixton Road on a busy Friday at 8 p.m. I didn’t feel at risk because there were a lot of people around and I was walking along a well-lit street with shops.

As I was walking through the scaffolding which is currently lining part of Coldharbour Lane (which has the bad effect of cutting the path off from the rest of the street and giving it an alleyway-like effect) I noticed a man coming towards me. As I say, I had no suspicion or fear as, fortunately, I am accustomed to walking past men without adverse consequences. However as we walked past each other this squat man in his forties or fifties stuck his hand out and gave my ass a good squeeze. Unlike me, he had noticed that for a few seconds we were the only people in the street, and had taken advantage of the fact. I was so shocked and scared by his action and by how vulnerable I suddenly felt that I carried on walking (towards the main road) and only shouted some insults back at him.

A big group of people came round the corner straight after, and I considered telling them, because the man was still just walking casually along the road ahead. But I was afraid that they might laugh or refuse to do anything, and so add further to my humiliation.

I think it could be helpful to have posters in the street, encouraging people to take action against this kind of event – perhaps saying something like ‘GROPING AND VERBAL HARASSMENT ARE A CRIME AND ARE PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF £— OR JAIL. PLEASE REPORT THIS CRIME TO THE POLICE AND HELP US CATCH THE CRIMINALS WHO DO THIS.’ If I had been sure that this is universally considered to be unacceptable and illegal, then I would have said something and perhaps they could have helped me to punish, shame or take the man to the police. Instead, I was afraid of being ignored or laughed at.

It is absolutely disgusting that some people feel like they can walk around taking whatever they want. Someone whose morals are so low as to enable them to touch a woman and take advantage of her vulnerability are surely not above rape. They should be dealt with as seriously as criminals, to clearly put out the message that ANY TYPE of unwanted sexual act is absolutely unacceptable.

– Anonymous

Location: Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, United Kingdom

Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea

Street Harassment Weekly – Feb. 16-22

February 23, 2015 By BPurdy

Gurgaon Administration Mulling “Women-Only” Cabs– “With the aim to curb incidents of eve-teasing and crime against women, the Gurgaon district administration is planning to run ‘women only’ cabs in the industrial city that will be driven by women drivers. The administration will help interested women to buy and run such cabs. The Gurgaon district administration has asked the RUDSET (Rural Development and Self-Employment Training Institute) to identify such women or girls who are willing to run such cabs.”

Podcast: Reality Cast – Street Harassment in Mexico City, and MRAs take on “Frozen”– “On this episode of Reality Cast, I’ll cover a street art protest against sexual harassment, the return of the Republican rape philosophers, and ask the question: Is the movie Frozen oppressing men? During the interview section of this podcast, I’ll dig more into the “Stop Telling Women to Smile” project.”

Video: The Inconvenienced Cat-Caller – “My sketch, “Inconvenienced Catcaller” was inspired by a time I heard someone catcalling me. When I turned around, I saw that the catcaller was behind the counter at a bodega more than two blocks away. He was literally screaming over a two-block radius, inside his own store, just to harass me. I couldn’t believe he was going through that great of an effort simply to be an ass. I made this sketch about a catcaller that will push through anything to get in that sweet, sweet catcall.”

Women in Turkey Share Devastating Stories of Sexual Harassment in #Sendeanlat Twitter Campaign– “In thousands of devastating tweets, women in Turkey are sharing their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse in the wake of the brutal killing of a young Turkish woman…The 20-year-old psychology student’s murder prompted huge rallies across Turkey this weekend to protest violence against women, The Guardian reported, and the public outcry over her death also played out on social media.”

Sexist Remarks, Stalking, and Rape Threats: How Women are Punished For Speaking Online – “Online violence can be distinguished by the swiftness with which abuse is republished, replicated and stored, but it is a continuation of what women face offline. Imagine the experience of a woman walking down the road. Stares. Lewd remarks. Gropes. Assault. These expressions of violence together send her a clear message: the street is not hers, and if she enters it, this is the punishment she must bear.”

Iowa State University Student Seriously Injured After Intervening in Street Harassment – “At the end of the day, why do men harass women, and why do men assault other men who challenge those sexist or disrespectful behaviors? We have to have a conversation with our young men about this. I had three of my daughters go to Iowa State. I would have hoped if something like this had happened to one of them that someone like him would have stepped in.”

When Street Harassers Are the Only Ones Calling You Beautiful– “The truth is that women of color are disproportionally affected by street harassment – often, we’re victimized not just for being women, but for being Black.I’ve had men of all races ask me to ignore harassment from Black men for the sake of Black male lives, while Black women are abused and even killed for being Black and woman. But I’ll never understand why anyone believes I could possibly choose between my gender and my race. For me, there is no separating Black from woman. It is intrinsic to our identity and everything we’ve ever known about street harassment.”

USA: Dear Men of New York – “I am more than my body. I don’t owe you a smile, a thank you, or a hello. I am not a bitch for ignoring you. I don’t deserve your street-abuse just because I don’t give you my attention or affection.”

Brazil: “The ‘Forced Kiss’ Incident”

February 23, 2015 By Correspondent

Juliana Guarany, Brazil, Blog Correspondent

(In Portuguese)

So this happened: I was enjoying Carnaval in São Paulo, following a nice bloco down the street when I saw him stop and force a girl to kiss him. She was uncomfortably laughing, in an attempt to get rid of him without spoiling the fun of the party. He grabbed her and kissed her for less than 30 seconds and then he was gone, and she was back with her friends, probably telling herself that this is normal during this time of the year and she should just let it go. I had the same reaction as her. It was too fast and I knew that, if I intervened, things could get uglier, so I didn’t do anything at that time even though it upset me.

French kisses during Carnaval are a tradition. Even singer Claudia Leitte wrote a song about it and broke the record of couples kissing at one of her concerts. Unfortunately, forced kisses are also very common. I have heard stories from friends being kissed against their will on micaretas (out-of-season Carnaval parties) since I was 15 years old. I also heard stories of men’s tactics, like this guy who used to take a tube of lança-perfume (an illegal mixture of ethyl chloride that gives a quick sense of euphoria, but can cause arrhythmia) and hold the girls, forcing them to inhale it until they passed out so he could kiss them. I guess every stupid action has its extreme.

Right before Carnaval started this year, a man was charged with seven years in prison for forcing a kiss on a girl in Salvador, Bahia, in 2008, which was considered rape. He was arrested at the scene and spent one year in jail before getting the right to appeal.

The main TV channel in the region used the story to give us a great “why we need feminism” moment when they released a poll for their Internet users, asking if “the forced kiss during Carnaval should be prohibited” (SEE PHOTO).

Unlike me and the bloco I saw, people on social media did not let this go. They even remembered the famous forced kiss after the end of World War II and the glamour behind a scene of violence (the girl says she hates that image.)

This year is no different from 30 years of Carnaval… forced kisses are common. But at least the debate about forced kisses and harassment in general is rising. Let’s hope next year brings us an even better party, in which we will not hesitate to intervene when a forced kiss happens in front of us.

Juliana is a fellow from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and, together with Hamburg University, in Germany, is creating a digital campaign to connect all feminist initiatives around the globe. Read her blog Whistleblower and follow her on Twitter, @juguarany.

The 5th Annual Anti-Street Harassment Week is Fast Approaching!

February 23, 2015 By BPurdy

Mark your calendars for April 12-18, 2015, our fifth annual Meet Us On the Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week! It will be our biggest year yet. Already, nearly two months out, we have 97 participating groups in 24 countries.

What is it?

The Week is a chance for people worldwide to collectively raise our voices — both online and offline — to share our stories, bring attention to the issue of street harassment, and work toward safer public spaces for all.

How do you participate?

Literally anyone anywhere can participate through simple acts like sharing a street harassment story, posting information on social media, posting a flyer, or writing a pro-respect chalk message in her/his community.

This year, we are encouraging participants to consider creating dialogues with people who may not realize street harassment is a problem (through street action and/or hosting a community discussion) and/or working with community leaders on a concrete action to make public places safer.

Join as a Co-Sponsoring Organization!

Last year more than 100 organizations from 25 different countries participated. Read the 2014 report. | View photos.

Our 2015 action will be even bigger and better. Big organizations, small organizations, colleges, schools, politicians, businesses, and student groups alike are invited to join us as cosponsors. There are only two requirements for co-sponsoring:

1) Participate: This part is up to you, and there are so many different ways you can participate – hosting a rally or march, organizing a workshop or lecture, writing op-eds for our blog or letters to your local newspaper, staging a street theatre performance, and so much more. Many of our smaller organizations participate avidly through social media, sharing our materials to their audience and participating in or hosting one of our several scheduled tweet-chats and other online discussions during the week.

2) Share the news with your audience: Street harassment is a global problem, and this week is a global response to that problem. We can’t do this without you! We’ll provide shareable graphics and fliers, and you do the rest!

Sign-Up!

You can register your event right now using this easy form, or email bpurdy@stopstreetharassment.org. Also, we’re happy to help you out in your brainstorming and planning in anyway that we can!

Follow Us

Don’t forget to follow Meet Us On the Street on Facebook and Twitter!

Volunteer

Want to volunteer with us? Here are some volunteer opportunities. We are also looking for people who can write guest blog posts to be published during the week. Get in touch with Britnae if you are interested, bpurdy@stopstreetharassment.org.

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