Part the Second
And as much as we might loathe the actual
word "hollaback", it turns out to be effective. Consider the idea of a woman groped in a public place, who also feels empowered enough to get a photograph of her assailant, relying on self-defense training and the hope that the fact of being in a crowded area means that there is at least
someone in the area who isn't like you, Sculptor. Now imagine taking the photo to the police, who already have a reputation for literally laughing off sexual assault complaints, and finding them uninterested. So she goes full hollaback, posting the photo and story to social media, which in turn creates enough public outrage that the police department sighs, makes a couple of excuses for their inaction, and says they'll look into it. Now imagine that the social media campaign happens to have landed in the right place, among other things, and the police department gets a call from the state corrections department, who advises them that they recognize the alleged groper, that he is a Level 3 sex offender, and this is where you should be able to find him unless he's violating his parole.
It shouldn't require public humiliation of a police department and a call from corrections wondering why you're not going after a Level 3 offender.
I'll
recycle a point or two (↱) here:
• I don't know how many times you, as a man, have had someone walk along beside you for minutes at a time trying to convince you to let him stick his penis inside you. Just sayin', man. Doesn't happen to me, and I happen to be gay. And honestly, man, how many times do you really think that's happened to Beckel?
• If the only way you can contact a woman is by making her uncomfortable, you're doing it wrong. The only reason we might find to even consider accommodating that sort of conduct is if society concludes that male chauvinist stupidity really is a disability. And come on, let's face it, that ain't gonna happen.
And I would also remind that this is the sort of behavior society tells women to avoid. You know, because it's their own responsibility to prevent some random man somewhere from behaving inappropriately and dangerously. In that way, it's kind of a trap that pretty much defines rape culture:
It's your job, ladies, to prevent men from treating you this way, but, hey, don't be such a cold bitch about it, eh?
Your advocacy, Sculptor, is noted.
____________________
Notes:
Stop Street Harassment. "Bystander Responses". (n.d.) StopStreetHarassment.com. October 30, 2014. http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/strategies/bystander-responses/
Pierre-Louis, Marly. "Responses to the Shit Men Say in Defense of Street Harassment". Brooklyn Movement Center. April 18, 2013. BrooklynMovementCenter.org. October 30, 2014. http://brooklynmovementcenter.org/p...shit-men-say-in-defense-of-street-harassment/
Pederson, Sarah. "Calling Out Cat-Callers". The Siren. November 26, 2014. UNCSiren.com. October 30, 2014. http://uncsiren.com/catcalling/