Today I was reading an article posted on the CBC about a vulgar joke hurled at a Montreal reporter. Of course, the usual sorts of comments followed, like, “printing this only takes away from real victims”, “can’t you take a joke”, and “stop giving them attention, and they’ll go away”.
The fact that so many people seem to think that street harassment is just a joke, and that those subjected to it aren’t real victims outlines exactly how normalized this kind of behaviour is. As a culture, we feel as though we can derail and silence people, mostly women, who have been groped, or harassed in public spaces. I find it disturbing how many people are willing to wave off discussions of street harassment and assault in the same week that a young woman was sexually assaulted and left for dead in Winnipeg, and another woman was sexually assaulted a short time later.
Let me spell it out for you: street harassment isn’t flattering, It isn’t a joke, and it isn’t something we can ignore until it goes away. It’s a symptom of a much larger problem, and talking about it in our communities is just one of the steps we need to take in order to make those same communities safer for half the population. Street harassment is about power, entitlement, and dehumanization. If you don’t believe me, then let me ask you this: If street harassment is just about flattery, then why do those who engage in it become abusive when a victim tells them to stop? Why are victims followed, and stalked? If it’s just about complements, then why are the comments made sexually explicit?
If you can listen to the stories, and see the stats on street harassment, then how could you possibly say that there are no “real victims”? Our culture needs to collectively get our heads out of our asses.
SHES TOO LOUD 