Cat got their Tongues

Hey Beautiful

(ignored)

Oi, you

(ignored)

B*tch

We’ve all been there. Being shouted at on the street, being sneakily followed half way down the road, being whistled upon. These are all forms of sexual harassment. It is a very blurred line between reciprocated flirting and threatening acts, but regardless of the reaction; it’s the action that’s the issue.

Until the end of March, Huffpost have been running a project called All Women Everywhere, giving a platform for women’s experiences and voices to be heard. On the website, there is an article titled “For men who don’t mean anything by it: sexual harassment matters” written by Dr Finn Mackay, in which he claims: “an awful lot of people think that men sexually harassing women in the streets is just harmless banter and that to be outraged by this is some sort of bourgeois indulgence or privileged first world problem.” This statement is exactly why it’s so hard for women to react or complain about being cat-called. Men think that they themselves are harmless, and that all they are doing is complementing a woman, but they must stop and think who this person is and what they have been through. Will your opinion really change her day for the better? No, probably not.

Every time someone leans out their car and shouts, or tries to talk to you on the street or any other form of contact I always wonder what it really is that they think they are achieving. I have definitely never seen these actions win anyone over. One of the worst parts of these scenarios is that when you don’t reply, they get nasty or try to make you feel bad, this is when it most infuriates me. They made their choice to harass me, now let me make mine to ignore it.

All girls know the world-wide tactic of walking past big groups of guys while pretending to be on a call, or calling your best mate or your mum. It’s the best deterrent and usually works; however, I recently was by myself and encountered a large group of men who I had previously walked past and felt very intimidated by from their staring and calls, so when I had to walk back I phoned my friend. Yet, one of the men still thought it his place to stand in my path on the pavement and start a conversation with me. As Dr Mackay put it: “The point is that no man knows how a comment is going to be received, regardless of his intent. The passing woman in the street doesn’t know his intent, she doesn’t know him. He’s just a stranger shouting at her in the street. A male stranger.”

If you head to this link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1131300/Woman-catcalled-108-times-walking-New-York.html

there is a brilliant video of a woman getting harassed more than 100 times just by walking around New York in completely unprovocative clothing, not that that matters.

Universally, it is an issue that women brush off multiple times a day but we need to take this matter more seriously and to any men who may be reading this; THINK the next time you approach a woman on the street.

If you would like to access the Huffpost article, this is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-finn-mackay/for-men-who-dont-mean-any_b_14898816.html?utm_hp_ref=uk