The Trouble with Street Harassment videos, hijab or no hijab

[fire421]

To be honest, she has a nice body and I would look too, any straight guy would. However, the comments are just creepy you shouldn't be allowed to comment sexually about a girl you don't know.

 

[galmal]

Being a woman, I will never understand the male philosophy. Having said that, I just don't understand why men feel compelled to harass women, for any reason. Does it make them feel more important or powerful to demean women? Do they really think it makes them more "manly" to be vulgar and crash. I think for so long, we've put this on women - it's their own fault for not being modest and demur. It's about time we realize that this is a MALE problem. Learn a little self-restraint and a lot of civility. Learn to treat everyone with the respect they deserve. If you wouldn't act this way around your mother, keep your mouth shut.

 

[ignite1hp]

In my opinion men will be men and are going to cat call and look no matter what. Hell, women do it too. There was a video a guy made about falling asleep on a subway and women checking out his "package". It was hysterical. We are all human and we are all going to look. Sure we are rude at times, but you would think it's something women would have gotten used to be now.

 

[Mackmax]

I don't know if I fully agree with the message of that video. Its taking the blame of harassment off of women and telling women if they change THEMSELVES they wont be harassed. Isn't this totally wrong? Where's the accountability for men?

This! Many people are saying that women should "cover up more" yet the woman in this video was only wearing jeans(which weren't too tightly fit), a shirt that wasn't too tightly fit, and a cardigan. She was showing very little cleavage, yet the men still acted like dogs. Women have to literally cover themselves from head to toe just for men to keep their nasty comments to themselves? How hard is it to understand that if a woman refuses your request to talk several times, that she wants to be left alone.
I want to meet the parents of these men, because there behavior definitely reflects what they were taught about women when they were a child. We really need to start teaching boys to respect women, and how to approach them. There is nothing wrong with telling a woman that she looks nice or is beautiful, but following her several blocks and making remarks on her a** are completely unacceptable, and no woman will ever want to date you if that is how you approach her.

 

[RingoBerry]

Did the girl really walk in the same street in all those 10 hours or did she pick a street for the first 5 hours where she will probably get hit on regardless what she wore? And obviously that clip was not 10 hours long so we don't know what they edited out which is why I can't judge. I'm not defending the side of men, I do know how most guys do behave with barely any respect for women but what I am questioning here is the video itself. It is nothing more than a biased experiment - might as well call it a fake experiment.

I have 4 elder stepsisters, an amazing kid sister and I am the only son in the family. I can't say I grew up with them either hence influencing my outlook in the matter. But what I do know is that I worry about how my sisters might be disrespected and approached in the same disgusting manner.

My only reminder goes to women; learn to protect yourselves, avoid staying out late, never travel alone, always let your family know where you are and avoid streets that or any place for that matter that will result to unwanted attention from strangers.

 

[saastil]

Of course no one will hit on her while she's wearing hijab. People don't hit on nuns or women wearing conservative Jewish clothes either. It's a universal social cue that says "If you're not into what I'm into I'm not engaging with you, so don't even bother." It's not that the men all of a sudden "respect" her because she's dressed conservatively, in the US they simply figure they won't get anywhere by talking to her. Just ask women in Saudi Arabia, they all wear hijab and are many are constantly getting harassed via Blackberry and text message from unknown males. Same with Egypt, in Cairo women who wear hijab are verbally harassed 90% of the amount that expat women are.

The real issue here is that people (men and women alike) need to be educated on what proper social interactions are. We shouldn't be afraid of talking to each other on the streets, but if a man walks down the street saying "hey mami" or "sweet a**" to EVERY female he passes, there's something wrong with that! Someone has to teach these young men that catcalling in the streets is neither a great way to meet a lady nor a proper way to interact with females.

 

[Goblinforhire]

I think this video is pure propaganda, they've sent a good looking woman out on the streets with tight fitting clothes. She gets cat calls, lewd remarks and stares and then they dress her up in a loose, long hijab which is a complete and stark contrast so nobody even looks twice at her; all so they can tell us "See? This is the reason why women are attacked and harassed on the streets, it's all their fault."

Why not send her out the second time with a blouse and knee length skirt instead?

The message I see being passed is for women is to hide their bodies, that they are to blame for the bad behavior these men display towards them on the street, when what we really need is for people to treat each other with the respect they deserve.