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I watched this earlier today, and it made me want to stab everyone. Assholes like this (and they are EVERYWHERE, all day long, all the time) are the reason I won't leave the house in a t-shirt.

I love when they twist it like she's the rude one for not acknowledging their "compliment." And that five minute creeper? *shivers*
 
A woman walked around Manhattan for 10 hours and recorded the 100+ catcalls she received while minding her own business. She edited the best ones. I'm FAT and frumpy and I get this a lot, that's why I rarely walk without headphones.



I'm glad she did this. Not sure what Hollaback is, but this is an unnerving thing to experience.


She really does need to smile more. She looks miserable.
I would be curious to see what happened when she walked through better parts of town.
 
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She really does need to smile more. She looks miserable.
I would be curious to see what happened when she walked through better parts of town.

Why should anyone smile unless they feel like smiling? If there's one thing I f***ing HATE HATE HATE more than anything, it's assholes on the street telling me to f***ing SMILE. It's so crude and condescending and intimidating and demeaning.

On that note, I recommend this:
http://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/

Also, there are no "better parts of town." She's walking all over Manhattan, including areas with some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Believe me, this will happen on EVERY BLOCK in every neighborhood in this entire city. No kidding.
 
I did watch the video. If that is what New York is, then all its women residents are prisoners of these males. Why though. I'm sorry someone has to live in a place where they can't wear a tshirts. I will say this is partly a setup by the walker. Allowing that man to walk beside here without checking him is completely victim behavior.

Most states have a legal definition of harassment. From its face, I would not call those legal harassment, but maybe New York actually regulates the speech of its individuals on the street to such that they would have to ask "can I compliment you" before laying such accolade on a person. I guess if I was a women, and frustrated by this behavior and I could not function, I would leave. But if that is not an option, just what do you do as a woman, tell them to f*** off. I just don't know.
 
I did watch the video. If that is what New York is, then all its women residents are prisoners of these males. Why though. I'm sorry someone has to live in a place where they can't wear a tshirts. I will say this is partly a setup by the walker. Allowing that man to walk beside here without checking him is completely victim behavior.

Most states have a legal definition of harassment. From its face, I would not call those legal harassment, but maybe New York actually regulates the speech of its individuals on the street to such that they would have to ask "can I compliment you" before laying such accolade on a person. I guess if I was a women, and frustrated by this behavior and I could not function, I would leave. But if that is not an option, just what do you do as a woman, tell them to f*** off. I just don't know.

THIS IS NOT JUST A NEW YORK PROBLEM. I have been catcalled on a near-daily basis since I was 12 years old, and that's EVERYWHERE I've been in the US, from small towns (my adolescence in a small, quaint village was particularly bad) to big cities. It's easier to make a video like this in a city like New York because this is a city of pedestrians—the average New Yorker walks about 4 miles a day (I'm closer to 7-10 miles/day), which makes us all more vulnerable and exposed to the people around us. Don't blame New York for this behavior, though. I assure you this happens everywhere in the country. The only time in my life that I've escaped it was in Sweden. (London was just as bad as New York—I haven't traveled enough to give opinions about other international cities.)

Also, a woman "allowing" a man to walk beside her is "victim behavior"???????? No, no, no, no, no. Despite your blue dots, I'm quite sure that you're not a woman, and I'm quite sure you have never experienced what is happening in this video. What do you think women should do when a man does something like that? It happens ALL. THE. TIME. You say that if you were a woman (which, FYI, you're not), you would "leave." What does that mean, exactly? You would stop in your tracks and wait until the street is empty before continuing on your way? You would go into a store and pretend to shop? You would move to Sweden? New Yorkers walk because they have places to go. I have to get to work. I have appointments to be on time for. Life is busy, and I get where I need to go on foot. Saying that women should stop going about their everyday lives to accommodate creeps who don't respect boundaries is totally backward. The person in the wrong here IS NOT THE WOMAN, it's the man. Stop trying to dictate what women should do to change their behavior! (And no, I'm not going to tell a man on the street to f*** off when this kind of thing happens, in part because I don't want to make the situation worse. Also, after 27 years of being catcalled, I feel intimidated, weak, and vulnerable when I'm in that kind of situation. That's what happens when a human being is subjected to this kind of behavior day after day after day.)

From its face, I would not call those legal harassment, but maybe New York actually regulates the speech of its individuals on the street to such that they would have to ask "can I compliment you" before laying such accolade on a person.

This isn't about prosecuting someone for harassment, it's about men (and, hopefully, boys—parents should be teaching their sons that this is not OK) learning that this kind of behavior is socially unacceptable. Don't try to turn this into a free speech issue in order to make a loophole. What does that solve? It's not about getting permission to compliment someone, either. If a man is directing comments at women he doesn't know on the street, the first question is whether he's also saying the same things to men he walks past. If not, then he's probably out of line. If it's a guy being a friendly neighbor saying "hello" to everyone he walks past, cool (I assure you that's not the case with any of the men in this video). The second question is whether he would say those things (and yes, that includes "hello") to the same women if they were accompanied by men. If not, then he's probably out of line. The third question is whether he would take offense or by otherwise troubled by a strange man saying those things to his wife, girlfriend, mother, sister, or daughter. If so, then he's probably out of line.

It's really not complicated.
 
I had to come here just to agree with everything Chickpea wrote. I've been dealing with that kind of thing since I was ELEVEN years old. Most women have: the ones wearing tight skirts and the ones wearing burqas. If you complain, you are at risk of being seriously hurt. It's not about us being careful with what we wear or where we walk, it's about parents being more responsible with the upbringing of their kids and it's about men finally start seeing women as people, not as walking pieces of meat. It is that simple. Most of us don't want to be evaluated, thanks, we just want to walk down the street in peace.

"If you think women are crazy you’ve never had a dude go from hitting on you to literally threatening to kill you in the time it takes you to say 'no thanks.'" - Kendra Wells
 
Ok, I agree and believe that I model a behaviour to my son that would would fall within those respect guidelines for how he looks at women. As a man, I believe that is my responsibility. Change is a process in society, it happens over a period of time. The acknowledgement of such behavior through the video can be part of that change for the viewer. In the mean time, before that process of change takes place, and my final question in my response, just what can a women do to feel in power, not weak and harassed when dealing with this behaviour. What is the right course of action? To ignore it like it doesn't exist, look down at the ground and speed up showing that you are scared and only bolstering their predatory behaviour leaving them in control of the situation, or some other confrontational challenge that may put you at real risk. So, because I have not had to face this behaviour, yes I want to know how a New Yorker like yourself deals with it.
 
Compliments vs. harassment. What is the difference? Fear. Unsolicited attention is intimidating and creates anxiety because one is put on high alert. One is being watched, stalked by a predator. One becomes the prey. What does that person want from me? What are their intentions? These men do not catcall to pay a nice compliment. They do it to harass. It is about power. Much like rape. It is wrong to blame the victims. It is not their fault. Most women are not exhibitionists dressed to impress strangers on the sidewalk. They have boundaries and want them respected.
 
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This is dreadful, does this really happen in the Uk to the same extent?
 
Now she's getting rape threats. The devil has reared it's ugly head, it's time to smash him.

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/29/7088867/catcall-video-hollaback-rape-threats

Wow, I was "blissfully unaware" that this is the state of existence for women. I guess I just thought from my "man" point of view that you just challenge that shit. I retract my victim comment from earlier, I just didn't understand. But still what do you do now, as it happens, just take it?
 
Wow, I was "blissfully unaware" that this is the state of existence for women. I guess I just thought from my "man" point of view that you just challenge that shit. I retract my victim comment from earlier, I just didn't understand. But still what do you do now, as it happens, just take it?

It depends on the situation because ultimately I care more about my personal safety in the moment than I do about making a bigger point, but yeah, if I want to be able to get on with my day, I just carry on and ignore it. There's not a lot more you can do—it's not like this is something that happens once a year or even once a month.

The article CG linked to has a passage toward the end that really resonates with me...

"It's a way men make women feel unsafe walking the streets of their own neighborhoods — and then, when challenged on it, profess innocence: "what, you can't take a compliment?" Women quickly learn that as awful as catcalling is, they can't respond to it. To respond is to risk being harassed more, or followed, or worse. To respond is to risk making the man who is shouting at you on the street, after dark, actually angry."

Honestly, the only time I will respond/react is if I'm cornered on a subway platform or if someone actually physically touches me (crowded subways are where that kind of thing usually happens—fortunately it's infrequent). If a guy won't stop talking to me on the platform ("Can I watch you play Tetris?" "What's in that shopping bag, you buy something pretty today?")(And yes, I've actually had the Tetris thing happen three times now. Apparently if you play Tetris in public you're really asking for it.), I usually just hustle down the platform toward a bigger group of people. It's maybe an irrational fear, but I don't want to tell a guy off if a speeding train is anywhere near.

That said, I'd much rather see this discussion go in the direction of how we can better educate boys and men to not engage in this behavior than to try to figure out what women should be doing to deal with it.
 
^^^I'll take a look at that after game tonight.

http://jezebel.com/two-women-dress-...source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

This is a good homework exercise for spotting signs. And it's fun. By going back and forth at the original vs the copy, it trains your brain and eyes to assimilate shapes and colors. I can't explain it, just do it. Then Picasso paintings and Cubism in general teaches your brain how to see a form broken up and fragmented, that's how spotting divine shapes in light is done.
 
The most f***ed up part of this video is the creeper who follows her for 5 minutes. It doesn't matter if its in broad day light and with people around, there is no telling what that guy was gonna do to her if he had his way.
Some of the comments I've been reading on forums are pretty shocking. Its like people are feeling oppressed for not being allowed to execute their right to cat call without feeling like an asshole.

A woman walked around Manhattan for 10 hours and recorded the 100+ catcalls she received while minding her own business. She edited the best ones. I'm FAT and frumpy and I get this a lot, that's why I rarely walk without headphones.



I'm glad she did this. Not sure what Hollaback is, but this is an unnerving thing to experience.
 
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Why should anyone smile unless they feel like smiling? If there's one thing I f***ing HATE HATE HATE more than anything, it's assholes on the street telling me to f***ing SMILE. It's so crude and condescending and intimidating and demeaning.

On that note, I recommend this:
http://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/

Also, there are no "better parts of town." She's walking all over Manhattan, including areas with some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Believe me, this will happen on EVERY BLOCK in every neighborhood in this entire city. No kidding.

Oh, I agree - it's annoying and rude for someone to tell another to "smile."
She's a lovely girl who looks miserable - but who wouldn't look miserable after having such creeps tagging along?

I'm sure this happens on every block - but isn't it primarily the same type of guys harassing her?
Guys who have probably never had a parent smack them across the face when they deserved it?
 
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