Cross-posted from Collective Action for Safe Spaces with permission.

This weekend, Washington, DC resident Sara Alcid was appalled and outraged when she went to cheer on friends at the Nike Women’s Marathon in DC and saw groups of men holding sexist signs commenting on the women runner’s looks and clothing. Sara found out that the signs were a part of BareMinerals by Bare Escentuals’ “Go Bare” campaign and tour, and DC was the tour’s first stop. Next step: Sara partnered with CASS and Holly Kearl of Stop Street Harassment (SSH) to launch a Change.org petition for BareMinerals to stop promoting street harassment and objectifying women runners.

Street harassment is no joke. According to research conducted by Kearl, 99 percent of women experience street harassment in the form of sexually explicit comments, sexist remarks, groping, leering, stalking, public masturbation and assault. What’s more, Kearl found that 46 percent of women said they exercised at a gym because of fear of harassment and assault while outdoors.

We’re HAPPY to report that within just a few hours of launching the petition yesterday morning, BareMinerals contacted Sara and CASS and SSH to let us know that they will NOT be using the signs again. We held a phone call with BareMinerals later yesterday evening, and we were pleased with their genuine regret at having promoted sexual harassment and trivialized women runners.

The following sums up their response:

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“First and foremost, we want to say how incredibly sorry we are that we caused any offense. Our messages were meant to motivate and support but you’ve made us realize that not everybody would find these messages motivational or supportive. It’s ironic because you’re exactly the kind of women that we are inspired by because you’re fighting the good fight and standing up for women. Our mission is to make a positive difference in women’s lives and to inspire women to be their very best. So to know that this is not what was translated on the street really pains us. We take your concerns so seriously, and we really believe this is a learning opportunity for our brand. Please rest assured that these signs will not be used going forward on the Go Bare tour. We’re glad we’re having this chance to learn.”

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We want to take a moment to thank the BareMinerals team for showing a commitment to women’s concerns, particularly those regarding their freedom from street harassment and sexual objectification. In an act of showing BareMinerals and other companies like it that women respond positively to marketing decisions that value them, we encourage you to send a tweet:

Dear @BareMinerals: Thank you for listening to women’s concerns & taking #streetharassment seriously! bit.ly/18uq73x #fem2 #endSH

Most importantly, we want to send a huge thanks to everyone who helped tweet and petition to send our message. Your support and activism are the very core of our mission, which holds that — together — we can collectively prevent street harassment (including a culture that normalizes it) and create safe spaces for all.

Photos of BareMinerals’ #GoBare campaign at the April 28th Nike Women’s Marathon in DC. Credit: Sara Alcid

Update 5/3/13: Aaron McConnell, President, TransRockies Events, said they held a successful Skirt Chaser 5k yesterday. He also told me, “Decisions around the name and messaging lie with Skirt Sports in Boulder CO, who own the Skirt Chaser concept and name, and they are the appropriate party to respond to this. The series has been operating for 6 years with successful events in many US cities, so it is quite interesting that our first Canadian event generated so much attention. We have had extensive dialogue with Skirt Sports as a result of the feedback, and I understand that there will be some level of change in the messaging going forward, but again, decisions rest with Skirt Sports.”

Fast on the heels of the victories this afternoon against sexist ads/products by Lego and bareMinerals & the creation of the new list of Companies that Trivialize Street Harassment, @DaniParadis told me about what is now SSH’s latest “Current Offender.”

Companies: Skirt Sports & the companies that license their product

Ad or product: A 5k race called “Skirt Chasers” that is billed as a “party that that happens to have a 5k in it.”

Why it’s problematic: While there is nothing wrong with the event itself, the name is very problematic. In the SSH survey of 811 women, 75% had been followed or chased in a public space by someone they didn’t know. Aside from a man physically harassing them, this was the form of street harassment that was most scary.

Plenty of women runners have been chased (and even abducted, raped or murdered), including me. As a woman who is not a survivor of rape, being chased through a park at dusk was the scariest experience of my life because I feared that if I was caught, I would be raped. Fortunately, I outran him.

Why would I, or any other woman who has had this experience, want to go to a party/5k where people are encouraged to “chase” and “catch” us?

On their website, Transrockies Race Series, a Canadian Licensee, addressed someone else’s concern with the name: “We understand that at first look the name “Skirt Chaser” may have some connotations to a time when sexist behaviours were accepted by society, but so far, there has been a universal acceptance that the use of this name is meant only in fun. We reject the notion that the name or format of the Skirt Sports Skirt Chaser 5k promotes sex crime or sexism or sexual discrimination.”

Unfortunately, the time when sexist behaviors were accepted is still the present time, and while some people have no problem with the name, I’m sure plenty of people do who just haven’t spoken out yet. I don’t understand why it would be so hard to change the name to something that doesn’t offend anyone?

And if they haven’t changed the name simply because no one else has complained, well, I am. The name needs to go. It is offensive and scary.

What you can do: Tweet to @SkirtSports, @SkirtSportsCan explaining why “Skirt Chasers” is not an acceptable race name and contact them at customerservice@skirtsports.com.

Update via Collective Action for Safe Spaces: “BareMinerals by Bare Escentuals just let us know over Twitter that they will STOP using their sexist, pro-street harassment signs at women’s marathons.

BUT IT’S NOT OVER YET.

We want a formal apology and a promise not to degrade women runners and support street harassment and objectification. Please keep tweeting and sharing!”

“At the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in DC on April 28th, 2013, BareMinerals by Bare Escentuals enlisted a group of fraternity brothers to hold up inappropriate and sexist signs to promote their Go Bare Tour of America. Signs that say “You Look Beautiful All Sweaty,” “Hello Gorgeous” and “Cute Running Shoes” have no place at women’s running races because they trivialize women’s athleticism and echo the street harassment that women endure each day….It turns out the signs are part of BareMinerals by Bare Escentuals’ “Go Bare” campaign and tour of America.” – Change.org

UGH. As if it isn’t enough that women runners face so much street harassment (and the fear of sexual assault, abduction and murder) when we train, now women may have to face it during some races?! Women runners are not trying to look beautiful sweaty, we’re trying to exercise, push our bodies, and achieve goals.

At the end of a long race, someone holding up a sign of encouragement can feel really great — but not a sign with a message that reinforces sexism or tells women that no matter what they achieve, it’s only their looks that matter!

Sign Sara Alcid’s Change.org petition & here’s a sample tweet “Dear @bareMinerals: Women didn’t run the @runnikewomen marathon 2b objectified & leered at by random men http://tinyurl.com/cr3dyat #GoBare”

Read More: Sara wrote a guest blog post about the Go Bare campaign for Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

UPDATE 5/1: Here’s another – better – update from Josh about Lego’s response. “We would not approve such a product again,” they said and Josh said, “That is an important statement, and I think it constitutes a real win.”

UPDATE 4/29: Read the update Josh Stearns posted on his Tumblr account after Lego responded about his concerns.

Street harassment is normalized in our society, in part because it is regularly portrayed as a compliment, a joke, or no big deal in kids’ cartoons, television shows, comedy routines, movies, commercials, product packaging, and even in kids toys, like these stickers by Lego that are aimed at kids, particularly boys.

Journalist Josh Stearns took this photo and wrote, “My son is just getting into Legos, so I thought he’d love these stickers. Then I took a closer look and saw that one of the construction workers (the only one wearing “cool” sunglasses) was labeled “Hey Babe!” I was stunned…Needless to say, I didn’t buy the stickers.”

Horrible. The stickers perpetuate the idea that street harassment is only done by construction workers and it’s only “benign” comments like, “Hey, babe.”

In reality, street harassment is perpetrated by people of all backgrounds and it ranges from leering, whistling and “hey baby” comments to sexually explicit comments, gender policing, demands for a smile, following, groping, and public indecency.

Street harassment is not a compliment nor is it acceptable behavior and we shouldn’t teach kids – or anyone else – that it is. Instead we need to teach respect on the streets!

You can let Lego know your thoughts by contacting their offices or tweeting a message to them, @LEGO_Group. You can also sign the Change.org Petition.