OPINION
Street harassment game is over
■pipr-*— ~~
Write
Angles
Tammy Bate*
Lot mo mako this perfectly
clear.
For the record, I do not
enjoy being ogled ! ulso do not
like it when men whistle,
whoop or yell their sexual pref
erences at me as I walk by.
And to those men: 1 am not
your baby, your honey or your
hot mama. I am a woman; not a
child, a type of food or a female
parent with a temperature.
Surprise, surprise, 1 do not
like being sexually harassed.
I can practically sense the
mule — and female — eyes
pause and widen when they see
that last sentence.
Yes, if you've "voiced" your
admiration for a woman's fig
ure (and I'm putting that In the
most sugar-coated of terms),
you're guilty of u form of sexual
harassment culled street harass
ment.
But I can guess the probable
responso of a man who prac
tices this form of harassment.
"It's not sexual harassment. It's
just paying a compliment to an
attractive woman."
Oh, of course, a compliment.
How could I hi! so foolish? Hav
ing a man scream “Come and
got it, baby" at the lop of his
lungs out of a car going 35
m.p.h. is certainly a wonderful
compliment.
I can just Imagine sharing
with my friends and family the
reason for my recent i>oost in
self-esteem. "Yeah, Mom. some
sleazo told me ho wanted my
body. Wasn't that a sweet thing
to say?" I don't think so.
A compliment comes from
someone 1 know and like, not
from a complete stranger who
doesn't know me or respect me
as a [jerson.
All summer I worked in
Springfield in an isolated part
of town where I had to walk
half a mile to the nearest bus
stop. And all summer men kept
yelling. whistling and staring at
nw
Throe men who ye Hod at mo
from a car stopped about a
block away from my bus stop
"Sorry wo scared you," one of
the men said with a smirk. But
tho smirk told the true s«vv
Ho was anything but sorry
Whore do these rnon come
from? How can they think
women enjoy this form of sexu
al harassment? But, of course,
that gets io the point.
Tho men who do these things
don't care what women think,
need or want. These men are
saying the things they do and
making the disgusting sounds
they make for themselves or
other men Usually the men ha
rassing me were with other
men. I think they vlowed what
they did us some twisted form
of male bonding
Perhaps men who verbally
harass women get off on muk
ing a woman afraid, Maybe it
gives them a sense of control
This summer, however. I ilid
something some people may
consider pointless or oven dan
gerous. I spoke back.
Usually I didn't have enough
time to say anything to these
men because they were in cars.
But 1 always had enough time
to point a certain finger sky
ward
When 1 had a chance to talk
back to them, I did. I usually
said. "I am a human being, not
an object. How would you foul
if someone said something like
that to your sister, your mom,
your girlfriend?"
Most of the men I said things
to looked tuken aback. My re
sponse to their comments prob
ably went right over tho heads
of many of them. But respond
ing gave me the last word I felt
more in control of the situation
and subsequently came out of it
fmillng less like u victim.
Talking back may not Ixi the
answer for every woman In
some situations, responding
can he dangerous and ignoring
the harassers may be tho best
tiling to do Ignoring a harasser
can he a response in itself.
Women can also turn tho ta
hies on men who harass thorn
Make tho man fool uncomfort
able It's easy to embarrass
someone If other people are
around. For example. If a man
you don't know stares at you.
point and say. "That man is
staring at me."
The way some women han
dle stn>et harassment is by de
nying it's a problem I told a fe
male friend of mine from high
school about my summer of ha
rassment. She shocked mo by
saying, "Oh. Tammy. You
know you like it " The scary
thing is, she wasn't luring sar
castic.
Well, my friend is wrong I
do not like it. and I would lie!
most. If not all women find the
same way. Street harassment
represents a disrespect for
women
And here's a sure-fire way to
tell if you're harassing someone
on the striret. If you're hetero
sexual. ask yourself Would i
say this to someone of the same
sex? If you're gay. ask yourself:
Would I say this to someone of
the opposite sex?
Most of the men who ha
rassed me probably wouldn't
dream of commenting on a
male stranger's attractiveness
Rut they thought nothing of
telling me what they thought of
my looks, oven though they
didn't know me
This summer was a sharp
contrast to the summer before
my freshman year of high
school My friend Dorothy and
I walked down the main street
of the community where wo
lived and counted how many
yells and whistles we got We
looked ut it as an innocent
game and wo ate up the atten
tion.
But now I realize how sad
that "game" was. We wore ac
cepting society's vision of what
we should be — women who
Judge their worth by their ap
pearance But a lot of tilings
have changed since that sum
mer.
The game is over. Tammy
don't play that.
Tummy Du ley is mi n.ssot:inle
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A big day for Jimmy