This video is only shocking if you’re not a woman, and that’s pathetic. The video was filmed by Rob Bliss and Hollaback, with help from Shoshana B. Roberts, who volunteered to be on camera for 10 hours. Rob walked in front of Shoshanna with a camera in his backpack, while she held two microphones.
Living in New York, this scene is all-too-familiar. Unless you’re Blair Waldorf IRL, you take public transportation daily, and the creeps come out in full force. Whenever I go anywhere, it’s a struggle between wearing what I want, and avoiding the constant cat calls that I know are coming as I hobble around on heels on the train. This isn’t okay, and it’s time for us to attempt to combat the creepiness that has somehow become an acceptable, and expected, part of life if you’re a woman walking.
I still remember the first time I was cat-called. I was 12, walking to a concert with a friend of mine. It was only a couple of blocks, but that honk let’s you know that your life will never be the same. I wondered if those creeps realized I was 12, and if they thought that one honk would make me jump into their car and run away with them. It only got worse from there. The worst part is feeling like you have to acknowledge this kind of behavior, with a small smile or a “Hello,” because you’re worried about making men angry if you don’t. There are so many stories lately about young men who go on shooting rampages, or become violent, because a woman doesn’t respond to them the way they want. Just living as a woman is dangerous.
I saw Aziz Ansari recently, and he asked the crowd how many women have been accosted, or followed home, or yelled at on the streets, and the entirety of the female audience raised their hands. The men were shocked.
I always wonder what men’s end game is when they start hollering on the street. Do they really think that’s my ultimate “meet-cute” fantasy, a creeper following me for miles while I’m exhausted and just want to go to sleep? Someone complimenting me and insulting me at the same time until I respond, because I’m too scared not to? No one should be shocked that this is what women experience, because it’s so pervasive, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start to educate men and make a change. There’s no reason walking while a woman should always be a dangerous experience, and the only way to make a change is to show these men that what they’re doing isn’t only creepy, it’s wrong.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1XGPvbWn0A&w=600&h=315]
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Video Shows What It's Really Like Walking as a Woman
