October 6, 2008
Nice Ass, Sweetheart!
Thought that would get your attention. If you're a woman, you've probably fielded that and similar comments many times while walking down the street. (Our personal favorites: "Give me a smile!" and "Shake that shit.") Now you can put your encounters with whistlers, honkers, booty-touchers and the like to good use: Researcher Holly Kearl is writing a book on street harassment, and as part of her data collection has posted this anonymous online survey. Interestingly, the 10-minute questionnaire also asks harassers what sorts of creepalicious behaviors they've engaged in on the street (and if you do find yourself checking off the "yes" box to "masturbate in front of them," please seek professional help) and how their victims responded. "My hope is to provide resources and strategies for those bothered by street harassment and help those who don't think it's a problem to understand that it is," Kearl says on her Website.
News of Kearl's project came to us via the anti-harassment group HollaBackNYC, whose Chicago chapter runs a blog where you can share your experiences and pictures of homegrown lecherousness.
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It should come as no surprise that I don't embarrass easily, but Sh*t like this makes me embarrassed as a male. I think there should be a law allowing women to mace or in the case of being groped on a train, shock the deformed roach with a cattle prod
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Is there a y/n question asking these women if they were secretly flattered?
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In addition, there should be a question as to how many woman have acted favorably toward men acting like this. And how many have given their number away. I guess the construction workers operate like Green Peace, 5,000 solicitations and if there one bite it's a victory.
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Guys, it's one thing to have a random dude on the street call you beautiful or tell you to smile and enjoy the day, and it's another thing entirely to have a dude tell you that you're making him hard or ask you to join a strip club. Yes, all of those things happened to me. I was not particularly flattered with the last two examples.
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Hahaha, reminds me of Obama's oops moment with the reporter.
I'd say that many women would be enamored by an offer by Clinton or Obama to tap them, whereas such an offer from Bush or McCain would result in the spasms of many gag reflexes.
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Matty, von Erich:
1. Yes there are questions on whether you are flattered, etc. The survey asks for your response to many different things.
2. There are questions on both sides--whether you have received these advances, and whether you have said/done things to others (regardless of gender)
It's an interesting survey, but not scientific.
And a_wu, I agree: I have been on the receiving end of both types of comments, and while the smile or compliment is flattering, telling me that you're hard or masturbating in front of me is not. I think the latter is just a way for a man to exert his control or power over a woman. And frankly it really creeps me out. I don't think men that do this realize how much of a violation those actions are even if you are not touching the person. Either that or they just don't give a shit.
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I don't think men that do this realize how much of a violation those actions are even if you are not touching the person.
Please say SOME men. As much as you hate these remarks, I hate when all men are lumped together with the a-holes. And yes, most of us do know masturbating in front of a woman, etc. is not a good thing. But say "some". Makes it hard on the "regular" guys when we say something as simple as "Hi".
"HI? Oh please, leave me alone, I have a boyfriend. I'm going to call a cop. Not interested."
Not that I ever say even "hi" to strange women on the street, but still...
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Thanks for writing this blog and adding a link to my survey. Periodically I check to see how many people have taken the survey and this afternoon I've had at least 100 from Chicago and I couldn't figure out why -- but now I know :)
In the 16 days I've been collecting responses, I've had 857 people take it (though only 587 have made it past the first page). This is so much more than I anticipated by now and I am thrilled. I wish that I had the means and training to have made this a scientific survey, especially considering how many people have taken it so far, but I hope I can at least collect a wide range of stories, views and experiences through it. Thanks again for your help.
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Of course it is not all men. And that is what I wrote.
I wrote "men that do this". "This" is referring to masturbating in front of me or telling me they have a hard on.
Like I also stated I do not have a problem with men complimenting me or saying hello. I have been flattered by that, as I stated above.
If I was less than clear, I apologize.
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Women Be Trippin' on guys who point out attractive women on the street.