What a day! We saw the “Shit Men Say to Men Who Say Shit to Women on the Street” video surpass 69,000 views since it’s launch yesterday (read the back-story for the video) and the Internet come alive with stories, tweets, and blog posts about street harassment.
Most offline events are taking place later in the week, but this afternoon, middle school students took a self-defense class in New York City and the event was co-sponsored by the Center for Anti-Violence Education and City Council Member Julissa Ferreras’ Office (thanks to my mom for attending and live-tweeting the event!). Throughout the whole week, many schools and groups that work with youth will be talking about street harassment during classes and in after-school programs.
Are you on twitter? Search for “street harassment,” “#streetharassment,” and “#EndSHWeek” to find a continuous conversation occurring around the street harassment (and join the #SheParty chat tomorrow at 3 p.m. EST for a dedicated chat on street harassment).
Finally, here’s a quick sampling of today’s blog posts and articles on the topic of street harassment:
“International Anti-Street Harassment Week is necessary because street harassment is not an isolated problem. “Street harassment is not a ‘woman’s problem,’ [Nuala] Cabral says, “Men are a big part of the problem and they need to be a part of the solution. This week is about standing in solidarity with people throughout the world and sending the message that street harassment is not okay. For many of us who experience street harassment regularly, it often feels normalized because we are used to it. But street harassment is not normal and it hurts our community. I hope [International Anti-Street Harassment] week of action makes this [fact] more clear.”
“Whistles, arm-grabs, flashing, random sexual comments and insults, thrown objects, or even just what pretends to be an innocent “hollla” that turns into physical assault…the list of what young women (and for that matter old women and some men) can face while simply walking down the street is endless. It’s happened to almost everyone, and anyone who’s experienced it knows that street harassment isn’t just “boys being boys.” These interactions leave victims feeling powerless, unwelcome, and wear at feelings of safety and self-esteem over time. And it happens everywhere, every day.
International Anti-Street Harassment Week aims to change that by setting aside March 18 – 24 to spread awareness, share stories, and ask men to join women in solidarity against the problem.”
“By age 12, nearly 1 in 4 girls experience unwanted sexual comments, leers, touches, and stalking in public places by strangers. Nearly 90 percent of women have that experience by age 19.
Street harassment teaches girls that public places are male territory and they are prey to male predators of all ages. The harassment restricts their access to public places and impedes gender equality. Street harassment—including scary amounts of violence—also disproportionately and negatively impacts LGBQT individuals.
This is unacceptable.”
“While the S**t Whoever Says meme is (thankfully) on its way out, what is interesting about this video’s approach is that it puts the responsibility to end street harassment on men, rather than the all too common victim-blaming approach that shames women for wearing the wrong clothes, walking with the wrong swagger in their hips, or being in the wrong part of town. This video, starring men talking to men, rightly places the blame on who deserves it: the perpetrators, not victims, of street harassment.
“Has that ever really worked for you?”
“I don’t care if you think she’s hot, that’s not okay.”
“Misogyny… super sexy.”
So ladies, share this video with the men in your lives and remind them that it’s not a compliment. It’s street harassment, and it’s not okay.”
“As a woman who has suffered the indignity of street harassment with a great degree of consistency for years, believe me when I say that it is infuriating. While women attempt to break through the glass ceiling, highlight the deeply rooted cultural misogyny that functions to define our culture, and simply get to work in the morning, they are constantly reminded by the strangers they seek to avoid encountering on the street, that they are living in a society run by men who are incapable of seeing them as human beings. Globally, street harassment is a social malady that persistently robs women of the chance at living lives where they can enjoy the basic freedoms to which all human beings are entitled, and which are the cornerstone of any civilized society. As we celebrate International Anti-Street Harassment week, I find myself reflecting on actions I can further take in my daily life to resist street harassment. The question remains, what will you do?”
Podcast interview with Hollaback’s Emily May about their new bystander campaign launching on Thursday.
“Halfway through high school, I transferred to an all-girl school and for the first six months, I refused to wear the cliché girls’ school uniform skirt and sweater. I figured that, for once, I wouldn’t get catcalled from every car that drove by on my walk home, because awkwardly fitting khaki pants and oversize grey sweaters were sure to render me invisible. Turns out, you can pretty much walk around in a giant potato sack; as long as you’re a girl, creepsters will still do their thing. Whoop-de-doo.
“But it’s just harmless flattery, why do you have to be such a Feminazi about a guy trying to pay you a compliment, Julia?” Well, me, I’m glad we asked us that. It’s not flattery, actually – it’s harassment. Street harassment, to use the official term. And the thing about street harassment is that it is not meant to be a compliment, but, in fact, an aggressive assertion of male dominance by dehumanizing and hypersexualizing someone. Fun fact: street harassment is not reserved just for women! It’s now available to all members of the LGBTQ community, too! Oh, yeah, about the Feminazi thing? Me standing up for my rights and personal safety don’t warrant a label trying to arbitrarily draw a comparison between my empowerment in the face of social inequality and the German National Socialist Workers Party responsible for the largest genocide Europe has seen since the Crusades. You do sound like an idiot when you use the term, though, so thank you for identifying yourself! I can now avoid future interaction with you.”
“It should not be OK for anyone to be sexually harassed. Street harassment is not the same as flirting; it should not be the way you try and get your next hook-up or boyfriend. I mean, does it even work? I should not have to feel uncomfortable or automatically put my guard up when I pass a group of guys on the street and you shouldn’t want your sisters or mothers to have to go through that either — and trust me, they have on many occasions. The psychological effects of street harassment have yet to be studied. I’m sure that it would be difficult to get conclusive results anyway but I fear the negative effects street harassment can have on a young girl’s confidence or image of herself. Women should not need, and men should not assume that women need, their verbal approval on the street.
Street harassment is a manifestation of our patriarchal society. It is only one of the many ways that women are sexually subjugated every single day. Movements like this bring awareness to the issues of street harassment but we need policymakers to continue the work. The path for effective anti-street harassment legislation will be a difficult one; it will be hard to set clear, distinct, and fair criteria and punishments, but I strongly believe that it is necessary to try.”
“As I stand at the bus stop I am acutely aware of male heads turning to leer as they drive by. I wonder why they can’t keep their eyes on the road. At one point a car load of men scream and catcall out their open windows as they speed away looking for other women to harass. All at once my skirt seems too short, my legs too long and bare, my breasts too big and exposed. In an attempt to refocus, I share a disgusted look and heavily exhale with the other women at the bus stop. One woman mutters, “jerks,” under her breath. What else can we do? Welcome to Spring.”
“I am a bit tired of being asked told how bad things are in India – whether it is a feminist of color in the States who could never imagine herself in a place like Bombay because all the touching would just make her so mad, or the white British guy who informed me (with a pat on my back, no less…) that I should visit Scandinavia because then I’d see that patriarchy isn’t really universal. I am frustrated at attempts to hierarchize subjugation and violence; sickened by gestures that (re)position black and brown folks, men especially, as yet awaiting some form of moral enlightenment. That is the reproduction of the colonial, and I cannot stand (for) it.
It may seem odd, perhaps, that a post (by a woman) on street-harassment (primarily enacted by men) appears invested in the recuperation of the male figure. But recuperation is not the same as protection. I have no desire to ‘protect’ eve-teasers in Bombay from accusations of sexism, misogyny or patriarchy. But equally, even as I pose such critiques, I have no desire to pander to, or satisfy, a colonial/racial gaze. Thus, for me, any recuperative gesture is also, and precisely, a refusal. A thick refusal, in fact, of all that, ultimately, has been imposed upon me.”
“It got me thinking about my own experiences of street-harassment. They’re fairly unusual but they certainly do happen. I’m hesitant to put their rarity down to my demeanour or dress choice as I know that street-harassment rarely has anything to do with what the individual actually looks like however, as I ramp up my bike time in preparation for a big bike tour I’m undertaking in May I’m starting to notice that the street-harassment aimed my way is also ramping up. Something about being a chick on a bike causes the male of the species to get very excited and assume our intention in such behaviour is to attract their attention and solicit all manner of observation muttered, hurled, crooned and chorused across the street/footpath/pedestrian crossing/from moving vehicle.”
“Hey darling, what you reading? Good book? You shy, eh? I’m just being friendly. Are you married? Where’s your boyfriend? Don’t be so stuck-up, I just want to talk. Where you going? Oi, bitch, talk to me. Nice tits sweetheart. Get ‘em out. What you doing today? Come with me. OI, I’m trying to talk to you, slut. You just need a good shagging. She’s ugly anyway. Fucking whore.
The whistling. The leering. The cat-calling. The beeping horns. The names. The gestures. The noises. The grabbing. The innuendos. The staring. The inappropriate touching. The inability to take a hint. The invasion of personal space. The following. The chasing. The fear. So many of us have been there.
None of this is flattering.”
“If you hear from a ladyfriend that she’s been harassed on the street, don’t suggest to her that she take it as a compliment. That’s callous advice. What she wants to hear from you is that you will call out anyone that dares to treat her that way(Braden asked if I wanted him to you know, *gestures at throat* which made me laugh and feel a bit better). Because nothing a woman does in response to street harassment is a safe reaction: doing nothing can be just as dangerous as thrusting a middle finger in the air(which is my natural impulse to people who are driving past as they harass me).”
“Tuval Dinner from the White Ribbon Campaign pointed out to me last year how it is so much easier for some men to engage in aggressive, violent and harassing behaviour than to face and embrace vulnerability. Reminds me of the Tupac interview clip I use in my Higher Unlearning article on Chris Brown: I explore how at 17 Tupac’s ‘game’ was to show women nothing but respect when engaging in conversation/compliments and I explore where that lead him. This topic is Urgent for us to work with men and boys on…
We need to encourage men to reflect on everyday experiences for women, then reflect on whether they add, contribute, are complicit or are shifting that reality. This video does a great job helping to ‘normalize’ speaking out and calling friends on harassing behaviour…what we need to also talk about as men is the pressure we feel to ‘have game’ and ‘just know’ how to talk to women. We all need to work on helping men & boys see a video like this, engage in a conversation like this, then open up and discuss that being rejected does not mean you are less of a man. It means you are more of a man cause you roll with respect and honour for yourself and the sisters in your life.”
“Today I read another excellent article by someone named Miss Lemonade that basically lays it out for men: how to behave and how not to behave when trying to approach women. She makes excellent points and shows very clearly how something that looks harmless to men can be really scary and creepy to women. I was inspired by that post to write one of my own on this issue, and instead of talking about behavior, I’d like to talk about something a little different. Namely, these are a few questions I’d like men to ask themselves….”
