“As we follow the new norms of social distancing, I find the lack of respect for my boundaries to be even more shocking than usual: Why are men comfortable getting in my face during a pandemic for the sake of a sleazy comment?”
Tag: Street Harassment
Memo to Our Rape Culture: Girls Are Not Prey
Girls are not prey. Let’s stop encouraging men to be predators.
Inside the Feminist Campaign to Make Misogyny a Hate Crime in the UK
When surveyed, a poll by Nottingham Trent University found that 93.7 percent of respondents had experienced or street harassment. When the Nottingham police began accepting reports of misogynistic actions as hate crimes, the number of reports skyrocketed.
Street Harassment Still Happens—But It’s Becoming Less Socially Acceptable
Laws signal what is okay—and what is not. That’s why laws against street harassment matter, and it’s why new laws in France and the U.S. show promise for a future without public abuse of women.
We Don’t Help Most Victims When #MeToo Becomes About Punishing Abusers
“Beyond a reasonable doubt” is an important part of our legal system, but we need to make sure this standard of evidence stays in the courtroom—and that our vision for a world without rape, assault and harassment extends beyond it.
How Our Fierce Feminist Grandmothers Fought to Claim Their Space
They learned how to verbalize their resistance to hecklers and harassers. They learned to submit, punch, kick and fight back against sexual assailants. Most importantly, they learned that they had the right to stand up, speak up and physically claim their own space.
How Catcalling Changed As I Lost 80 Pounds (And How It Didn’t)
I’ve been downright fat, flabbily average, curvy and 19-percent-body-fat fit. But one thing has never changed: men commenting on my body.
Against Bystanding
These are only two of countless other stories of women being abused in public, while bystanders look on. In too many places, it is unsafe to be a woman (or a trans or non-binary person). Doing nothing — standing by — is its own violence.
Q&A: Mushkin Goldman’s Art Exhibition “Smile!” is Taking on the Catcall
I spoke with Mushkin Goldman on her motivation to curate “Smile!,” a vibrant, multigenerational all-women art exhibition on catcalling, gender performance and objectification of women.
Liberating Words: “I Did Not Ask”
The poems contained in this series, “Liberating Words,” came out of an interdisciplinary course for high school juniors at The Winsor School, an all-girls school in Boston. The course, “The Personal Is Political: An Interdisciplinary Look at Feminism,” is co-taught by Libby Parsley, a history teacher, and Susanna Ryan, an English teacher. The second unit of the […]