{"id":12772,"date":"2012-12-05T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-12-05T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=12772"},"modified":"2012-12-05T07:27:42","modified_gmt":"2012-12-05T07:27:42","slug":"street-harassment-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-loving-cat-noises-when-they-come-from-creepy-dudes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/05\/street-harassment-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-loving-cat-noises-when-they-come-from-creepy-dudes\/","title":{"rendered":"Street Harassment, or ‘How I Learned to Stop Loving Cat Noises When They Come from Creepy Dudes’"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was walking home recently, across a busy bit of central London, after dark, when some dude made kissy noises at me, like he was trying to tempt a cat. He was two feet away, staring straight at me and smirking like an icky weasel.<\/p>\n

Without thinking, I responded in kind with a big, angry, I-will-slash-you<\/em> hiss.<\/p>\n

\"Hissing<\/a>


\nDESIST<\/p><\/div>\n

He looked pretty taken aback.<\/p>\n

I carried on my way and mused that I appear to speak feline like a mothertongue, but also I got to thinking: what the ever-loving crap?! Seriously, what on earth was he expecting from that encounter? What would a positive result have been? Surely that’s never<\/em> worked for anyone, right?<\/p>\n

Ah, street harassment. It’s been a few months. Usually my experience of you is relegated to when I’m wearing a summer dress (gender norms for the lose) but it sucks whenever it happens. It’s also antithetical to ever actually getting<\/em> my interest because – no matter how many mad cat-lady vibes I’ve got going on – no one who thinks they can approach me like a pet is getting the time of day.<\/p>\n

This particular encounter didn’t throw me much because I actually had a comeback – I walked away pleased with myself for thinking fast – but how you deflect it shouldn’t be the first point of call. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS?<\/p>\n

Far more often it’s crap shouted from cars – which I find rubbish twice over because they’ve gone before you can say or do anything in response. (Come back right now, dudebro. I have a LOT to say about what you just did.)<\/p>\n

A friend of mine recently had some jerk shout “nice tits!” at her from a car. She was (understandably) angry and upset for the rest of the day, but the guy shouting it might have told himself it was a compliment – some interviews with street harassers<\/a> have revealed what is either complete ignorance or willing ignorance of the effect it has on women. Many of the men, when asked why they do it, say it’s a compliment and it makes women feel nice.<\/p>\n

Maybe it is a compliment for a very small percentage of people – I cannot claim to speak for everybody – but I am yet to meet or hear of one person who’s had a catcall, wolf-whistle or similar and felt good about it. The thing about street harassment is, it’s not flirting. Street harassment doesn’t make a person feel good because it isn’t about a person: it’s boiling them down to their physical attributes (‘nice tits’, ‘nice ass’) and funnily enough that doesn’t feel great.<\/p>\n

\"Annoyed<\/a>

“News of your interest in my ‘nice butt’ has not made my day in any way.”<\/p><\/div>\n

The other thing is, it’s almost never a conversation: mostly ’cause the objects of the harassment aren’t interested<\/strong> and want to get on with their day, and also because often it’s at a remove – stuff shouted from cars, or (to use the clich\u00e9) from scaffolding. The people doing the shouting don’t actually expect a response. This isn’t a tool used to chat up women: it’s used to silence them. Under the guise of a compliment it’s a one-way street of objectification.<\/p>\n

And Objectification Street is a crappy street. Seriously, I looked at a flat there once. There were rats all over the place and it smelled bad.<\/p>\n

Of course, if people are physically closer to the harassers, it doesn’t exactly get better. The wonderful (and award-winning) Anti-Street Harassment UK campaign (ASH UK<\/a>) was set up after its founder, Vicky, was harassed by a group of men who were initially shouting at her from a car, threatened to rape her<\/strong>, then got out of the car and followed her into a tube station where they assaulted her. The police (who did intervene) then blamed her for responding to them and said “boys will be boys.” SO. MUCH. FAIL.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Um… *cough* male readers – this is essentially Met officers saying your entire gender are all hopeless gropey asshats. Erm… *cough* I wouldn’t take that.<\/p>\n

So, what can we do?<\/h3>\n