How to deal with street harassment.....

[bliss_eternal]

"Several years ago, I was working as a waitress, and one day I was walking down the street, minding my business, when this old guy in a car starts talking to me. He's old enough to be my grandfather. I'm ignoring him, which is what you're supposed to do in that situation; you know, I can't hear you, I can't see you, you can say whatever you want, I'm not a human being. Then he said, 'I'd like to see you suck my dick," and I just lost it for a second. I pulled my sunglasses off and I walked over to the car and said, 'and I'd like to shoot you in the fucking face.'

"That scared him. This guy doesn't know me from Adam, and this is the kind of thing he says to a total stranger on the street? I was so angry, yet I was glad I had ruined his day. That I scared him, maybe dissuaded him from ever speaking to another woman like that. There was a risk in what I did but I felt elated because I'd responded like a normal human being who respected myself. Because I not only allowed myself to feel anger, I also expressed it. I put him at risk, making him deal with the consequences of his own words. I giggled to myself for the next block or so until I got back to my apartment. I'm so glad I did that. Most of the time people do those things to you, and if you're a woman, you're supposed to simply ignore it.


excerpted from:
http://www.sydfield.com/featured_calliekhouri.htm

...or at least this is the way I've occasionally dealt with it, that I found the most satisfying (when I of course was relatively certain the person posed no imminent risk to me). ;)

Per Callie Khouri--screenwriter, Thelma and Louise.

[Katherine Brengle]

1. That's fantastic.

I've never seen street harassment discussed anywhere outside feminist spaces. It's like it's just okay, like no one minds it, but I know it isn't, and I know everyone does.

WTF

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BlueIris]

2. Not the way I'd go, (too dangerous) but whatever works for others, I guess.

[Samurai_Writer]

4. We've talked about this before

Now that I'm older and fatter, I'm actually relieved that I don't have to worry about street harrassment anymore. But as a younger woman, I was subject to it quite a bit. The thing that I used to do is laugh at the guy or guys (they usually do it in a group, don't they?). Along with a comment that usually was a long the lines of "Why do you think I'd ever want to do ANYTHING with you, <insert personal insult here>?"

I feel for the younger women who still have to deal with this crap.

[bliss_eternal]

6. With the milf trend....

...I've seen a few "older women" getting some of this, too.
:puke:

[raccoon]

7. Ditto, is all I can say to that. There are some advantages to getting older. nt

[raccoon]

5. I'm glad she did it and the dipstick backed down.

It's risky, though. You never know when you might be dealing with somebody who's batshit crazy.

I wonder what a harrasser's reaction would be if a woman said,

"How would you feel if somebody said that to your mother/daughter/sister?"