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Hello, my name isn't cutie …

August 10, 2009 By HKearl

Over the weekend I did a lot of research for my book on street harassment. Previously I’d read about and interviewed an activist who helped with the INCITE! DC anti-street harassment day of action in 2006 in Washington, DC, but yesterday I was excited to stumble across some great photos from the event. Here are a few:

Included in the comment thread of that post was this image.

While I think writing in one’s name could be problematic because then harassers may repeat it ceaselessly, I like the overall idea and I think leaving the name part blank would convey the same message. Would you wear one?

Weekly Round Up – August 9

August 9, 2009 By HKearl

Stories:

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

On this blog, two contributors submitted stories about harassment in the Washington DC area (including an anti-Black woman harasser), a woman in Europe shared what constant male harassment caused her to feel when an elderly woman unexpectedly grabs her to steady herself on the subway, two women in Chicago each share harassment stories from taking the subway home, and a woman shares one of her recent harassment experiences in East Boston, MA.
Holla Back NYC has numerous stories, including a woman getting groped on the 4 train, a man masturbating onto the track of a nearly empty subway platform while staring at the contributor, a woman who reported her harasser who works for Hollywood Dairy, a woman who got harassed after saying hello back to a man at a subway station, another woman who got attacked by a man while she waited for a subway at the Carroll Street station, and a woman who kept getting harassed by a man passing by in a van.
On Holla Back DC! a woman shares her most “memorable” harassment experiences, another has a rubbernecker stare at her on the subway escalator, a woman shares her experience walking the 14th Street guntlet, and another woman tries to explain to a harasser why she doesn’t like what he’s saying; he then calls her a stuck up bitch.

In the News:

AMNY ran an article about harassment on New York City’s public transportation system.
Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein’s trial began this week; she was arrested with other women for the crime of wearing trousers in a public place.
The Huffington Post ran an article about street harassment, highlighting Holla Back website efforts, called “When Hollered At, HollaBack!“
Herizon magazine’s summer issue includes an article about Hollaback Toronto.

Announcements:

Right Rides is hiring a Community Organizer to lead the New Yorkers for Safe Transit Coalition efforts.
I’ve been offered a book contract for my proposed book on street harassment! Submit your stories for inclusion.
Enter a photography contest for photographers who capture or depict street harassment, particularly in the DC area. Selected winners will have the chance to show/sell their work at a reception the evening before the Holla Back DC: Make DC Harassment Free Summit.
RightRides in NYC recently has expanded their services of a free ride home from Saturday nights to include Friday nights too! They offer this service from 11:59 p.m. – 3 a.m. in 45 neighborhoods across four boroughs. To call for a ride, the dispatch number is (718) 964-7781 OR (888)215-SAFE (7233).

Street Harassment Resource of the Week:

Tweet your harassment story and add @catcalled or #hbnyc to your post and it will be added to Catcalled or HollaBackNYC’s thread of harassment stories.

Huffington Post Covers Street Harassment

August 5, 2009 By HKearl

Big name media sources don’t often cover the problem of gender-based sexual harassment, or street harassment, so it is a big deal that the Huffington Post ran the story “When Hollered At, HollaBack!” today.

Here’s an excerpt and I encourage you to check it out in its entirety:

“Whatever the time of day or activity, many women have become accustomed to unwarranted gender-based street harassment. Unwanted cat-calls and even groping — or worse — are almost customary as we go about our daily lives in public environments.

While at times sounding harmless or even deceptively flattering — “Bless you for that body,” “I’m gonna take you home, beautiful” — any single experience of unsolicited commentary or behavior can be rife with racial, ethnic, gender and other implications that are the opposite of positive. Understanding these kinds of experiences as harassment is key at both individual and larger levels.

Without that vocabulary, behavior that is, in fact, unacceptable can become a normalized, daily occurrence, and alter the way we think about our self-esteem and personal safety. Ultimately, street harassment can transform the way we as women walk, dress, commute and live — such that our worldviews assume objectification and disrespect as status quo.

For many, gender-based street harassment has become unexceptional, yet the majority of people have not yet figured out an appropriate response to it.”

Exactly right! She then highlights the great work of my colleagues at Holla Back DC! and Holla Back NYC and their efforts to combat the problem. Congrats, ladies!

Don’t forget, if you don’t live somewhere with an active Holla Back, share your story on this blog via an anonymous online form.

Creepy Driver

July 28, 2009 By Contributor

I was walking from my house to the Potomac Avenue Metro station in DC on a hot Saturday afternoon, unusually dressed up (for me) in shorts and a cute tank top to meet up with friends at a small party. A guy driving a silver SUV said something to me along the lines of “hey, you’re looking fine.” Inappropriate compliment by total stranger, bleh. But then, he kept driving extremely slowly and kept talking to me. At first, I think I just glanced at him and kept walking, I didn’t say anything.

When he kept creeping along beside me, I started to get nervous. I was near my trusted corner dry cleaners, and abruptly turned and went inside the cleaners. I told the lady there what was going on, and just chatted for a few minutes. I waited until I saw the creepy guy in the silver SUV finally drive away before going back out to the sidewalk. I shouldn’t have to duck inside off the sidewalk or feel afraid to get a little dressed up because of creepy guys harassing me, but this episode reminded me why I don’t even try to look cute more often. And it’s always worse in the summer when wearing a skirt or shorts or (gasp!) exposing arms or shoulders.

-anonymous

Location: Washington, DC

Share your street harassment story and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

Street Harassment in Portland, Oregon

July 26, 2009 By Contributor

I am 17 and live in Portland, Oregon, a supposedly liberal city, but the street harrassment is constant. On a weekly basis I deal with the prolonged, creepy stares of men who are obviously twice my age. This isn’t a 5 second look over, this is a fifteen minute intense, no blinking, staring right at my chest for a 15 minute bus ride kind of staring. Every couple of weeks a man will do something suggestive along with the creepy stare. They act surprised when I don’t like it! The city train is also a terrible place to be. At one point a group of four teenage boys had an animated discussion about my breasts while standing about two feet away from me. I asked them to stop and they laughed and continued.

This sort of attention really bothers me, but it’s not the worst thing. Last summer I had just gotten my driver license. I was at a local city library, somewhere I had always felt quite safe. I checked out my books, walked through the parking lot, got in my car, locked the door and was just about to leave when this stranger walked up to my car and knocked on my window. So I roll down my window a couple of centimeters so I could hear what he was trying to say. He told me he had seen me in the library and wanted to go out. Again, he was probably twice my age. I was obviously much younger. I said no, rolled up my window, and drove away very shaken.

Street harassment is always annoying and frequently scary. I try not to let it limit where I go and what I do but it does. There are certain places I will not walk alone, I always sit as close to the bus driver as I can, and I avoid trains completely. I don’t think the clothes one wears matter much, but I avoid wearing tight shirts or tank tops if I’m going somewhere alone because I feel more visible and vulnerable. I wear shoes I know I can run in. I see guys on the street and think about where I can go if the comments get unbearable. It’s exhausting to be anywhere in public long because I have to be hyper-aware to avoid what potentially dangerous situations.

– I.

Location: Portland, Oregon

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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