Saturday, September 02, 2006
How cool is this?
Women in Bangalore are taking steps against verbal and physical harassment in public by taking photos of the perpetrators. Jasmeen Patheja started the blog Blank Noise where she posted photos of pictures of men who hassled her. She originally dealt with the unwanted attention by yelling at the men, but "It was only when I took out my camera and photographed them that the dynamics changed and the power situation was reversed," she says. "The camera instantly transfers power to the woman. Instead of being amused, the man felt threatened."
At the moment Blank Noise is running a project called 'Did you ask for it?' where women are asked to send in clothes that they were wearing when they were sexually harassed.
I wanted to post on Holla Back NYC a little while ago, but never seemed to get 'round to it. Holla Back NYC has a similar mission and was specifically created to combat street harassment in New York, and there are links to other American and international sites. They define street harassment as;
Women in Bangalore are taking steps against verbal and physical harassment in public by taking photos of the perpetrators. Jasmeen Patheja started the blog Blank Noise where she posted photos of pictures of men who hassled her. She originally dealt with the unwanted attention by yelling at the men, but "It was only when I took out my camera and photographed them that the dynamics changed and the power situation was reversed," she says. "The camera instantly transfers power to the woman. Instead of being amused, the man felt threatened."
At the moment Blank Noise is running a project called 'Did you ask for it?' where women are asked to send in clothes that they were wearing when they were sexually harassed.
I wanted to post on Holla Back NYC a little while ago, but never seemed to get 'round to it. Holla Back NYC has a similar mission and was specifically created to combat street harassment in New York, and there are links to other American and international sites. They define street harassment as;
"a form of sexual harassment that takes place in public
spaces. At its core is a power dynamic that constantly reminds historically
subordinated groups (women and LGBTQ folks, for example) of their vulnerability
to assault in public spaces. Further, it reinforces the ubiquitous sexual
objectification of these groups in everyday life."
I think this action is much more appropriate than what has happened in Japan where they have introduced 'women's only' carriages on trains as the abuse is so bad.
I seem to remember in May Twisty took umbrage to a Leering Perv and snapped him in all his white male entitlement.
I am lucky enough to seldom, if ever, be harassed in public but if anyone feels like sharing stories/photos wack them in the comments or email me. Remember: "If you can't slap 'em, snap 'em!"
