Street Harrassment

Now this video is all over the internet, and its been made very controversial among the public. And this article I came across is the best one yet! Here is a paragraph from the article that caught my eye…

“That reproach for not acknowledging his compliment underscores the real motivation: he wants her attention and acknowledgement. Her presence out in public means that her time and attention is now a public resource, available for any and all to demand at will.Those compliments – the “Hey Pretty”s, the “You’re beautiful!”, the “damn babe, you’re a piece of woman” – all come from the same place: they say “your self-esteem should be dependent on my approval.” Similarly, the demands of “Smile!” aren’t about “hey, cheer up lady”, they’re saying “Your facial expression should be pleasing to me at all times.” When she won’t give him the validation he craves by acknowledging him, she’s being “rude” – ignoring the social contract that she has unknowingly agreed to by being a woman in the first place.

And how, exactly, should she respond to these enticements? Clearly ignoring it doesn’t work – several of Roberts’ harassers follow her demanding that she talk to them. Smiling is often the default option – it’s a quick way for women to end the interaction with minimal investment of her time and attention.If she tells them to fuck off, she risks escalating the situation – possibly to dangerous levels. After all, a woman was killed recently for refusing to give a man her phone number – the threat of violence is very real for women. As Margaret Atwood famously said: “Men’s greatest fear is that women will laugh at them, while women’s greatest fear is that men will kill them.”

Sure, you may not be one of those guys… but how, exactly is she supposed to know this?”

Read the full article here

(thumbnail art by daehyun kim)