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.