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Friday, Nov 21, 2008
We face street harassment every day; should the dean have been busted for computer porn?
May 28, 1999 |
Too sexy for my shirt
BY DEBRA DICKERSON
(05/21/99)
Ow! Debra Dickerson has just twanged my most painful nerve ending. I always hesitate and reconsider when putting on anything short, tight or remotely revealing: If I dress for the warm-weather season, males of all colors, shapes and sizes will think it's open season ... on me. No wonder I don't like summer. Unless I have someone to accompany me, preferably a man or a large dog, I don't dare dress to keep cool.
What's a girl to do? Ignore them, my mom said; holler insults back, says dad. No matter what I do, I'm in danger of worse and more of exactly what I never wanted in the first place. Short of wearing a nun's habit, there is nothing I can do to prevent it. Street harassment doesn't confirm my attractiveness; it confirms only one thing: my low opinion of strange men. Why should I smile at someone who has given every indication of wanting to attack me? I have been treated like this since the day I sprouted breasts, and I am sick of it. It's as if being visibly female, alone and independent, is some sort of crime.
Should there be a law against street harassment? Yes, definitely. And about time, too. Listen, guys: You may like "titties," but we don't like dickheads. And if a law is what it takes to stop you from acting that way, I'm all for it.
-- Sabina C. Becker
Cobourg, Ontario
Sexual harassment is a form of intimidation by men who resent their own subordinate position. In a way these guys are saying to each other, "Hey, I might be a menial worker but at least I'm above these women." Manual laborers take orders all day; what they want is to see passerby women blush and smile, two unconscious gestures of subordination.
The construction workers think twice about sexually harassing their female co-workers nowadays because they could get fired for it. That's only possible because of how women fought for the right to sue companies for sexual harassment. But if companies are held responsible for the on-the-job behavior of their employees toward other employees, I don't see why companies shouldn't be held responsible for their employees' workplace behavior towards non-employees.
-- Tony Filanowski
Dickerson's article highlighted the contradictions of this country's social trends. We glorify behavior that's insulting and dehumanizing to women because it's "politically incorrect," which is considered good. To not be sexist is "politically correct," and that's bad. It's even considered oppressive.
So the men who are confronted for harassing women on the street are victims of politically correct oppression. To stop men from harassing women would violate the new social norm. And demonstrating decent, civilized, respectful behavior toward women will put a man in the position of violating current social laws.
-- Suzanne Henry
Austin, Texas
Dickerson's article on street harassment reminded me of an article I read on racial harassment. The writer pointed out that white people in general, and white liberals in particular, tend to widely underestimate the prevalence of racist comments -- because the one group of people who almost never hear racist comments are white liberals. No one is likely to direct a racist comment at them because they are white, and no white racist is likely to share a racist comment with them because it is presumed they wouldn't approve. Similarly, as a man who wouldn't dream of calling out my sexual desires/thoughts to a random passing woman, I virtually never see/hear the street harassment that you describe. Its only through the experiences of my wife that I really grew to have any idea of just how prevalent and potent this sort of harassment is.
This type of harassment is symptomatic of our generally sexist culture. As a sex-crimes prosecutor for a district attorney's office in Northern California, I am constantly reminded of the depressing frequency of sexual assault (almost always by "friend"/family/boyfriend) and (even more alarmingly) of the extraordinary mental gymnastics jurors will go through to decide that this "nice young man" couldn't really be guilty.
-- David Angel
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