Women should not accept street harassment as ’just a compliment’
▻http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/feb/28/women-street-harassment-power-control-violence
Women should not accept street harassment as ’just a compliment’
It’s a myth that street harassment is just a bit of harmless fun. It’s about about power and control – and, as I know from personal experience, can so easily turn to violence
Two men look at a young woman on a street
The dehumanised discussion of your body by a group of passers-by is different from a compliment. Photograph: Pascal Saez/Alamy
Laura Bates
Friday 28 February 2014 08.00 GMT
▻http://i.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/2/27/1393523211525/Two-men-look-at-a-young-w-011.jpg?width=620&height=-&quality=95
Walking down a quiet street at around 7pm a few nights ago I noticed, without thinking anything of it, that there were two men coming towards me in the opposite direction. It being dark but for the street lamps, it wasn’t until they came quite a lot closer that I started to notice the tell-tale signs. As they neared, the men were overtly looking me up and down, eyes lingering on my breasts and legs, before turning back to one another, saying something I couldn’t hear, and sniggering. My heartbeat quickened, the hair rose on my arms, and I felt the usual emotions flood through me. Fear. Anxiety. Impotence. Anger. Frustration. Misplaced embarrassment and shame.
