Hollaback: Misguided Shouting for a Much-Needed Safe Space
Photo: Streeter Phillips
August 23, 2010
On a recent afternoon, a friend of mine was walking to work across the New Haven Green when a stranger decided he needed her. “Needed me,” she stressed, incredulous, as she recounted the story over the phone. She was crying quietly at work. After proclaiming the necessity of her company, her love, her body, this man proceeded to follow her, taunting her from a few meters behind. She asked him to stop, first firmly but politely, then hysterically. He mocked her anxious gestures. My friend asked passersby to intervene—“I’m being harassed!”—but all she got were a few apologetic shrugs. From her office, she listed the details that left her so confused: her hidden skin, the daylight, the public setting. Desperately she asked me, “Where is the safe space?”
There is a corner of the blogosphere attempting to be this haven. The most prominent set of sites are the Hollaback blogs, like HollabackNYC, started by New Yorker Emily May in 2005. Protected by the anonymity of the internet, women can post accounts of street harassment, along with hastily taken camera phone shots of the perpetrators, on city-specific blogs. While some stories depict the expected catcalls and ogling, many tell of public masturbation, often on subways.
Most critiques of these blogs focus on the ambiguity of their purpose. It is unclear what exactly the goals of the Hollaback sites are, let alone whether they accomplish them. While some initially assume the blogs are used to track down perpetrators—indeed, Jezebel.com reported earlier this month that a subway “pervert” was just apprehended based on his tweeted picture, unconnected to Hollaback—the site does not promote this tactic, nor report any successes. Earlier this year Hollaback posted a series of ten videos of women explaining “Why I Hollaback,” but none actually clarify—they simply recount stories much like the written posts, simply in a different medium. A comfortable community to share such stories has a certain therapeutic utility, but reading through story after story, it is clear that a virtual safe space will not fully satisfy many of these women, nor my friend on the phone. A place to talk is helpful, but many could use a platform from which to act.
Such was the thinking of Holly Kearl, a former George Washington University student now working for the American Association of University Women in D.C. At GW, Kearl wrote her master’s thesis on street harassment, and was inspired to continue work in the field after a CNN report cited her paper. Although Kearl freely admits she “probably wouldn’t be doing street harassment work if it weren’t for Hollaback,” which she discussed in her thesis, she found their approach problematic. “Their model is just to take a guy’s photo and put it on the website, which doesn’t really change the behavior,” she said in an interview with Broad Recognition. Kearl believed online resources, like guides on legal rights and self-defense, were badly needed to help women battle the systemic problem.
To address this dearth of information, in 2008 Kearl started two “Stop Street Harassment!” websites: one to function as a blog much like Hollaback, but without the photos and the restrictions on location, and another to offer strategies and resources for victims. Kearl’s first book, Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming for Women, is available this month.
Despite Kearl’s thoughtful improvements on the original model, Hollaback remains the better known of the blogs, and is now rapidly evolving into the home of a more aggressive strategy. What started as a simple blog is now an incorporated organization. There are sites for four other American cities (growing from the original three of New York, DC, and Savannah) in addition to Toronto, the UK, and Australia, with more on the way, including more specific sites for the Brits. The websites include links to resources like the sexual harassment statutes and self-defense training programs and soon there will also be an iPhone application for women to report the precise location of harassment.
Yet despite this revamping of the Hollaback sites, the larger purpose of the blogs remains unclear. The only understanding I gained from speaking to May is that the sites, while rooted in good intentions, are limited by the ambiguity of their goals and the founder’s unnecessarily limited view of who is vulnerable in our cities.
“We’re going to end street harassment,” May told me in an interview. She launched into an explanation of her motivation, her words and cadence exactly following the script I had heard her read to a laptop camera on a May 2 video on the blog. “I felt violated, and when we yelled [at harassers] it just made it worse, and of course, the police didn’t care.” Clearly, she had done this before. After all, Hollaback had been getting a lot of press recently: when we talked, Jezebel.com had just picked up the story, and May had been named a “Woman Making History” by the Women’s Media Center.
The closest May came to defining the purpose of her movement in our conversation was in her identification of Hollaback’s audiences—but in this articulation I found a disturbing close-mindedness. She conceives of the project as comprised of two parts, one for each gender. First, there are “women who experience street harassment.” May hopes to create a place where these women can “realize they’re not alone, realize it’s something that happens to all women”—and again, I cannot accept that a place to vent is sufficient to “end street harassment.” Her other audience are “those who don’t experience sexual harassment. Namely, men.”
Hollaback does not post accounts sent in by men. “There are plenty of definitions of harassment,” May concedes when I object to this limitation, “but we are really focused on harassment that is part of a power dynamic.” While I do not accept that such a “power dynamic” can only exist between a dominant man and victimized woman, I think I understand what May is trying to say. It is the same defense I use when explaining to acquaintances why sexual violence awareness efforts are rooted in the Yale Women’s Center, or why I am more likely to pick up on lyrics objectifying women than men. Gendered violence and disrespect can go both ways, but in as much as these isolated incidences derive from a larger problem, I cannot help but expect the perpetrator to more often be a man.
Yet May’s exclusion of men does not derive from empirical observations of harassment patterns, but damaging assumptions about the entire male sex. “I don’t think that men can be sexually harassed in the same way,” she says. “I think that if a woman says ‘hey baby, nice package,’ a man might find it flattering or annoying but they won’t be threatened.” I am disturbed by how closely this logic follows that of the casual male cat caller, who is convinced women love hearing they have great breasts while walking to work. What about same-gender harassment? When I ask May about this, her certainty falters. “You can go back and look at the posts,” she instructs me, though I am unable to find any depictions of this sort of harassment. She talks about “homophobic harassment,” in which gay individuals are taunted for their orientation, but May does not address the difference between homosexual and homophobic harassment.
After all, any scenario in which a woman is the harasser will not fit into May’s inflexible framework for Hollaback.
May claims she cannot tell a woman where the line is between friendly advance and threatening comment from a man—if she is uncomfortable, the line has been crossed. Yet, May makes this same judgment for men and women targeted by female harassers. It seems again that Hollaback cannot, despite its best efforts, move beyond a simple sounding board for frustrated girls to a true tool to fight street harassment. Whatever May’s good intentions, the blog is constrained by an unclear mission and dangerous assumptions.
I do not want to cast aside Hollaback entirely. May’s vision for the iPhone app seems promising. If it is used to report locations of incidences, the app could lead to the first real set of spatial data on street harassment. “We’re going to take these stories, map them, and then put them in front of legislators, ask them what they’re going to do about it,” explains May, and I want to buy into the whole movement. I believe the political pressure such public data could exert would be significant, and even if it is not, I still do think a digital safe haven, if refined, could be valuable.
Given this promise, it seems Hollaback is a good idea poorly executed, lacking vision and scope. May calls herself a “street harassment expert” on the website, but when I question her credentials—did she, like Kearl, write a book on the subject or work for a legal team representing victims?—she defensively explains “well, I have been doing this work for five years and I run the only anti-harassment organization in the world.” Yet originality does not ensure efficacy. I wish May and the movement luck. With a reshaping of these virtual havens, perhaps we can find some safe space on our streets.
Alexandra Brodsky is a junior in Yale College. She is a staff writer for Broad Recognition.
Comments (20)
Hi Alexandra,
While you bring up some good points, I feel like your criticism of Hollaback is completely unwarranted. Shouldn’t you champion people who bring harassment and abuse to the open, rather than criticize their “business model”? (which it so clearly shouldn’t be judged as) Shouldn’t the whole focus be on what they are working to make public? Do you also feel that jornos who cover domestic abuse or women being stoned to death because of a made up indiscretion are just wasting their time?
posted by Jessie August 24th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Alexandra — your critique is unnecessarily pointed at Emily May, rather than the whole movement in general, which has A LOT of people involved. I agree with your other points and I know that none of them are new or surprising to Hollaback. In other words, constructive criticism of the project goes a lot further than attacking individuals.
posted by Jill August 25th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I beg to differ that Hollaback has not been successful. It is a young organization and for only having been around for 5 years, has seen an enormous amount of success and gained a large following. The Hollabacks springing up all over the country are not started by May, they are independent groups of women that identify with the mission of Hollaback and see a vision in it’s strategies. The more people that talk about and stand up against harassment, the more socially unacceptable it will become, and that is progress. Hollaback is also responible for the NYC transit authority sexual harassment PSAs that informing subway riders that “a crowded train is no excuse for inappropriate contact,” and urging victims to tell the police or a station agent. What Hollaback has accomplished in 5 years with only a small group of vounteers is amazing.
I also think you misunderstand the fundamental purpose of Hollaback: to end street harassment THROUGH awareness and engagement of the public, BY empowering women. If the greater public is engaged and aware, it will be easier to find pathways to legislation and governmental support. The stories that women share on the blog serve many purposes. They let other women know that they are not alone, that this happens to everyone. They give other women strength to share their own stories, and the more stories we have, the more people will see street harassment as an actual problem and safety issue. They provide an outlet so that a victim can regain some of the dignity and power that is lost during harassment; they allow you to put the incident in your own terms, and to take a stand (albeit a virtual, annonymous one) against what has happened. This is actually a valuable format for women who are afraid to speak out, and think they have no one to talk to. Taking the first step to post an annonymous story may be the impetous they need to speak out further next time, or to become involved in the movement.
posted by Anne August 25th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I have to agree with Jill here, your article slowly descends into what seems to be a personal attack on Ms. May. Also your criticism about the scope of HollabackNYC (i.e. the exclusion of men) seems misguided as well. If someone were running an organization to help AIDS in Africa, would you point out that they are completely ignoring AIDS in the United States? The problem is a large one and HollabackNYC has provided a place for women to detail their attacks, identify their attackers, and locate resources for help. I’m still not sure what problem you see in that.
posted by Justin August 25th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
As a feminist, I read this piece on Hollaback with puzzlement.
Alexandra Brodsky has a tendency to pit Hollaback against other organizations or individuals – such as Holly Kearl – that are also doing work on street harassment. Although Kearl’s site seems to be favored over Hollaback, their sites appear similar from the descriptions while Hollaback’s has more features such as the ability to post photos and indicate locations. I also find it quite naïve to suggest that if someone writes a book, then she right away becomes an expert while if someone has not, then she is less of an authority. Some of Brodsky’s criticism of Emily May (Hollaback’s founder) seems nitpicking or even personal, resembling more talk show banter than serious journalism.
It is always unfortunate when we create competition among feminists. The point is not to pick a winner but rather to encourage all parties to work together to create a broad base movement.
Chyng Sun, New York City
posted by chyng sun August 25th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I am a feminist and a gay man. I am deeply concerned about this article, and broadly about this publication’s decision to publish it.
Hollaback’s stance is clear – the FAQs state the Hollaback accepts posts from women and LGBTQ individuals. And yet, Alexandra says the the site doesn’t accept posts from “men.” Am I not a man too? Or how about Michael, a bisexual man, who posted a story to Hollaback (the one that Brodsky says she couldn’t find) about being harassed by his male neighbor: http://hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/2009/12/bisexual-men-get-harassed-too.html Is he not a man either?
Furthermore, pitting two feminists against each other in the press is the oldest trick in the book. For Bill O’Reilly at least. But in a feminist magazine? Talk about a “much needed safe space.” If we can’t support each other, what’s the point? This publication should be about recognizing broads, not tearing them down.
posted by Matt August 25th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Alexandra, I think that you raise an interesting question about what exactly is needed to create safe spaces. I’d be curious about how you envision an appropriate response to the issue of street harassment. The sites that you mention seem to stand alone as platforms where those affected by street harassment are given a voice. I am positive that the first step in any movement of this sort is to make sure that people are able to tell their stories and share their experiences.
These sites remind us that street harassment is pervasive and threatening (and not flattering). That is fits into the spectrum of culturally accepted gender based violence. That it isn’t about what what you wear or how you dress. That we have a right to walk down the street and feel safe. As we continue to talk about these ideas, we are building tools to further discussion and understanding.
Ultimately, I don’t think that it is about putting a piece of paper in front of legislators and telling them to do something about it. (Though that sure is a good idea!) It is about creating aware and engaged communities that act **together** to stop excusing and promoting a culture of power abuse. When someone confronts a street harasser it changes the culture. When they share their stories it lets others know that they aren’t alone. It may inspire someone else reading it to shake off the shame that we are taught to take on when someone makes a comment. (How dare we leave the house, right!? What did we expect?). It may inspire them to demand respect from the harasser. It might help a bystander find the courage to step in and support someone they see being abused. And finally, it might even be enough to cause a street harasser to think twice about cat-calling.
If we aren’t going to start with sharing our stories, where are we going to start?
posted by Erica August 25th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I want to make it clear that I am not against HollaBack! I feature the site in my book, Emily co-wrote the foreword to my book, and she is one of the speakers at my NYC book release event in September. Also I am fully in support of HB’s phone app/SMS texting initiatives and the plan to use collected data to create policy change. In fact, i was with Emily and Oraia Reid when the idea was hatched.
As I said, I wouldn’t have started my work without them and what wasn’t included in the article was how I see many strengths in the HB model, such as how it is a great way to empower people to share their stories as a method for dealing with an unempowering experience like street harassment, a place to educate the public about the forms street harassment takes, and a site that generates sorely needed media attention for the anti-street harassment movement.
I did start my site because I thought HB didn’t have as many resources as were needed to help women or have information on what bystanders can do or what male allies can do. And I know people can look at my site and find limitations. We are volunteering our time and energy to the movement and do what we can. Anyone who has advice or suggestions, please share it! The anti-street harassment movement needs all the help and support we can get!
As others have said in the comments, there are many ways to give constructive criticism without making personal attacks and I think there were some unfair ones made on Emily in this article. Especially in singling her out when she is one of 6 or 7 co-founders and is now part of a team of people who volunteer time to do HB’s work.
posted by Holly Kearl August 25th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Perhaps this article would be more aptly named “WTF: Misguided Shouting at Emily May for a Much-Needed Google Hit”
Poorly researched, factually incorrect, and just plain bad journalism. Yale? Really?
Guess Alexandra knew no one would be reading it anyway and slopped some stuff together willy nilly. It shows.
posted by Ann August 26th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Truth be told, I had not heard of nor read your publication until today when a friend drew my attention to the article by Junior Alexandra Brodsky that looked at some of the key players in the anti-street harassment movement and their efforts at ending the public abuse of women. In particular, she zeroes in on the efforts of Holly Kearl, of Stop Street Harassment, and Emily May, of HollaBackNYC. As HollaBack’s Director of Research and Development, I may be slightly biased—guilty as charged. But I’m hoping my observations on this article can objectively illuminate for the lay (wo)man the inherent flaws with Brodsky’s argument.
Regarding HollaBack’s position on declining to accept submissions by male readers, she writes:
“Gendered violence and disrespect can go both ways, but in as much as these isolated incidences derive from a larger problem, I cannot help but expect the perpetrator to more often be a man.
Yet May’s exclusion of men does not derive from empirical observations of harassment patterns, but damaging assumptions about the entire male sex.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if I had read this part correctly or if I was missing something. I reread the sentences. Nope; these two sentences really do blatantly contradict themselves. My high school English teacher would be having a fit with his red pen right about now. What is the HollaBackNYC blog, if not an empirical observation of harassment patterns, and what “movement” is Brodsky referring to elsewhere in the article if these hundreds of stories are “isolated incidences”? Breaking these sentences down further, the hypocrisy is painful.
Brodsky: I cannot help but expect the perpetrator to more often be a man.
Brodsky: May’s exclusion of men [from the site]…derives from damaging assumptions about the entire male sex.
Cough.
“Street harassment” is a relatively new term that brings slight pause to even well-educated and well-informed people in urban areas. It is a problem that only recently has been acknowledged and identified as such; this being the case, concrete social change is perhaps a decade away. Blogs like Stop Street Harassment, HollaBackNYC, and its sister sites around the world seek to illustrate, however tedious it may be, the hundreds and thousands of stories of women who otherwise would not speak out. A problem without a name can hardly realize its own solution. These blogs bridge the gap between silence and walking on, and speaking out and demanding social justice.
Brodsky hounds the anti-street harassment blogs on a lack of action and complains that the photos rarely result in arrests or convictions. I want to point out several key accomplishments to date, bearing in mind that HollaBackNYC, for example, only recently acquired its first full time employee in May of this year and operates entirely on in-kind donations and volunteers.
A. HollaBackNYC was founded after the arrest and conviction of a habitual subway flasher whose photo one New Yorker published on the front page of Metro NY.
B. Thirteen arrests were made during an undercover sting operation in which NYPD officers were subjected to flashing, groping, and sexual verbal assaults.
C. The organization helped found New Yorkers for Safe Transit and fought to incorporate anti-sexual harassment announcements and advertisements on NYC subways and buses, which have now become standard operating procedure.
Contradictions and structural discrepancies aside, I found Brodsky’s article to be unnecessarily disparaging of an organization that is still in its infancy, and distastefully disdainful of an individual. Whether Ms. Brodsky seeks to bolster the movement through constructive criticism or bolster her own portfolio, her argument leaves much to be desired. Movements do not happen overnight and HollaBack volunteers will be the first to admit that the organization has a long way to go. Discussion is just the beginning. But for a reputed journal that bills itself as “A Feminist Magazine,” I am quite surprised and frankly disappointed that a fellow activist sees it fit to belittle and wax critical of a blog that has helped serve as the catalyst for a worldwide discussion of gender based harassment, and can only wonder if these grievances are personal.
posted by Violet Kittappa August 27th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Matt, I think you should reread the article. It is not the author, Alexandra, who is saying that men cannot post on the site but the founder of the site herself who is QUOTED as saying that her other audience is:
“those who don’t experience sexual harassment. Namely, men.” So, according to the founder of the site, either 1. you are not a man or 2. you are a man and do not experience sexual harassment. The flawed logic is not Alexandra’s, but Emily’s.
It is one thing to provide constructive criticism, but I am uncomfortable by your narrow-minded reading of the article. Obviously Alexandra is not trying to undermine the feminist cause, but instead is trying to open a dialogue about the most effective way to address an issue we are all disturbed by. Stomping your feet and shouting isn’t going to do anything unless it is organized, mobilized, and well thought-out which is what this article and this website is trying to move towards. We need to be able to have a conversation and acknowledge our own faults/how we can improve and redesign to most effectively and efficiently stand together and help the cause.
posted by Sigrid August 27th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Well said, Holly!
I’m glad you stressed the fact that we are all volunteers and NEED help and support rather than another cynical talker. More action and less yappin’ needed!
Both Holly Kearl and Emily May work their asses off for this movement, along with many other visionary men and women.
posted by Kira Zmuda August 27th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
While Hollaback can be important, Emily employs a double standard in which she views simple photo taking and looking as sexual harassment, while it can be uncomfortable and creepy in certain situations the double standard would be a woman who dresses up provocatively and someone elses looks at her and happens to be looking at someone else (no excuse for touching or cat calling but simply looking), in the reverse a woman who takes pictures of cute guys would be doing the same thing, or let us say an older woman attracted to younger men to change the dynamic.
In addition, cultural and self-selection bias can influence the dynamic, for instance a muslim woman who is from canada recently turned down an offer from a man who wanted to have coffee with her, while the man’s continued actions of pursuit were wrong, we can’t help but wonder the fact that muslim women are not allowed to hang out with or talk to unrelated men so if it were a woman it would be a different story, but let’s suppose it was a transgender female, or a lesbian woman, or a “butch” woman.
Alexandra is right and the comments critical of her post may be on target but only slightly so , hollaback has been around for a long time and sexual harassment is not new and neither is street harassment, I also believe that sexual harassment statistics may be overstated and the 25% of woman is a lie, that would mean that every 1 out of 4 experienced it at a young age. Even if a woman did experience any sexual harassment in which is could be self-selection bias at a party in which many woman where joking around, it still does not paint the picture that emily is posting.
In addition the previous poster still does not answer the question about emily’s may exclusion of male postings, and goes on to say that hollaback is for stories of women.
Of course I am not denying or downplaying sexual harassment which could be simply as a group meeting in which a male makes inappropriate comments often a teenager in front of a girl who has mental health issues but is otherwise sane , active, and performance and cooperative and likable to everybody, and a man comes in talks about a woman’s features. A wise leader often a man will dismiss and warn that teenager, its of course the attitude of that person and how he or she is talking, of course hollaback will not discuss those situations. In other cases a woman police offer who is black that you may never know or guess cannot work for the city anymore because she filed a lawsuit for being sexually harassed but does not seem like the a victim of sexual harassment (stereotypes broken as hollaback often portrays and videos woman who often sound like victims which is true in scenario 1 but not in scenario 2 in which the woman is happy and talkative and does not portray the ordinary).
Nevertheless self-selection bias and using the example of the muslim woman and glancing and reversal of the male and females is evident,
posted by FactFinding September 25th, 2010 at 6:10 am
I fully agree with this article. Emily May and Hollaback seriously lacks an understanding of the breadth of this issue. And her claim that she runs the only anti-harassment organization in the world is utterly ridiculous. From Blank Noise Project (which has existed at least as long as Hollaback) to the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights to the London Anti-Street Harassment Campaign to NYC’s own Street Harassment Project (founded in 1999, a full SIX years before May came along), Emily may would do well to learn her own so-called movement’s history
posted by Set the Record Straight October 29th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Violet, Brodsky is not contradicting herself. You are taking her words out of context. You leave out the sentence after the second sentence you quote. She writes:
‘Yet May’s exclusion of men does not derive from empirical observations of harassment patterns, but damaging assumptions about the entire male sex. “I don’t think that men can be sexually harassed in the same way,” she says.’
What Brodsky means is that May is excluding men’s stories based upon this belief that men cannot be sexually harassed as women are, not based upon patterns of harassment. In any case, even if only 1 out of every 100 submissions to HollaBack was from a man, why should it be excluded? If it is a credible report of harassment, it should be given the same respect that any other report would be given. Who is May to tell someone that his feelings of being harassed are not to be respected simply because he is male? It’s no different than a man telling a women that she’s not being harassed, she’s receiving a compliment.
posted by Jill S November 9th, 2010 at 12:12 am
I love to read and I love to read logical and honest perspective from the intelligent so thank you for this article.
I find myself with two friends who are quite carried away by Hollaback and they are of the belief it can be the motion to end, or take serious aim at street harassment; they do not however quite engage themselves with the reality of harassment and the social constructs in which it is present.
As a friendly, smiling male who stands at 6″3 and bears slight resemblance to Joaquin Phoenix I find myself, mostly on the positive side of compliments and while it does make me feel somewhat awkward to be told by a group of females that ‘I look like that actor, you know the hot one’ what really alerts me is why this ‘in road’ to a conversation allows access to my body for a quick grope or two.
Putting this to Hollaback simply gets the rebuttal that the power exchange is not the same; but two ignored and important social constructs appear evident to me; a) Dating, where many women retain a good amount of equality in making the first move compared to even a decade ago, and b) That to outsiders any man reprimanding a woman for her actions is seen as the aggressor.
These two constructs have created a different power exchange that must be recognised in order for an organisation like Hollaback to be taken seriously, so should their responsibility to culture.
I believe Hollaback grew from New York (a city with a reputation for banter) and having read many of the stories it seems that the US is a strong contender for some interesting Hollaback tales, the UK however sees a different scenario and equality is reached on a much higher scale so to try and promote an international issue without first understanding your stakeholders is hugely irresponsible and shows a clear misunderstanding of the cause they are trying to fight with a tunnel vision approach to a problem.
Semantics also plays a strong role in harassment as education and social deprivation is a huge motivator for perceived harassment. Perhaps the ‘girls on the block’ engage in sexual banter at many opportunities and thus find enjoyment in the mental stimulation; it is not until a male, or female continues this outside their usual lifestyle that it becomes a problem; so should they be exposed or educated? Is it personal responsibility or have we been educating in the wrong manner?
Hollaback would have them exposed or criticised but surely it should be about understanding and not aggression?
In essence the organisation highlights an important negativity in our society but the reality is that any organisation that wants to make a difference and not just follow an agenda needs to broaden its mindset and realise its potential to understand the evolving, not revolving world.
I would like to leave with a few points that I hope will allow you to understand that agendas do not make for good Policies.
Rarely do I go out for a whole weekend and find my behind not slapped or groped by a woman
I do feel awkward and uncomfortable when somebody makes note of my physical appearance, that is not my story!
A group of girls and one man does bring out my cautious side especially when semantics and group mentality plays a part
Many women do realise that their gender will allow them to escape punishment/reprimand and use this to their advantage
Fake rape allegations terrify honest men, having worked in mental health they are not as uncommon as you would assume
Women and actually a few gay men will grope anywhere
And finally if not to better understand how a perspective that can create poor legislation I have a friend who obtained a PERMANENT domestic violence charge after his girlfriend beat him black and blue and then called the Police to take him away.
Unfortunately for him he was so upset with the situation he simply said to the officers ‘please just take me away from her’ which caused him to spend the night in the cells; when she called the next day to have the charge removed due to her ridiculous claims she was warned that it was not possible due to authorised paperwork and she herself would obtain a charge for wasting Police time if she wanted to proceed.
My friend the teacher, a wonderful inspirer who works far too hard for his students will always have to explain his non-actions.
Legislation in this instance while very important in protecting the vulnerable does not allow for retrospective action for a preemptively scared woman, or one seeking revenge (such as the worries help for Rape-aXe for example) and was born out of pushing agendas and not discussing the broader approach to Policy in practice.
I want an equal world, not one engrained in fear.
posted by ARW May 17th, 2011 at 6:56 am
The last time I took a look at hollaback, the organization allowed and encouraged completely anonymous contributions and yet posted no way of contesting or taking a contribution down.
So I could take a picture of anyone in practically any situation on the street, send it to hollaback, along with a totally false description, and have that published to slander and libel some jerk I wanted to get even with.
Hollaback as a method of harassment.
Until that is addressed, they are the problem, they are not part of the solution.
posted by anon June 20th, 2011 at 2:11 am
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posted by Anonymous January 8th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
“A woman who takes pictures of cute guys would be doing the same thing, or let us say an older woman attracted to younger men to change the dynamic.”
This is not as hypothetical as it sounds.
http://tubecrush.net/
Really, I know that the people who do Hollaback have nothing to do with this, but how is this not an example of BLATANT harrassment?
posted by DP February 21st, 2012 at 4:38 pm