Ain't No Hollaback Boy

You have by now probably not only seen that short film of a woman Shoshana Roberts in modest attire walking silently around New York as men (of colour, perhaps down to choice of neighbourhood) verbally harass her and intimidate her. At the end of the video the comments and actions of the men on the street are totted up and we are told if we want to stop this we should visit and donate to the project Hollaback. You have probably also seen the Funny or Die (I choose die) parody film posted up by Unilad (who amusingly had to point out that it was a parody and that they were aware of this fact. Just a quick overview of the people who run and read Unilad really) of a man in a t shirt wandering the streets of New York silently as people high five him, praise him, offer him jobs and eventually crown him. The film mimics the original's scores at the end and says this is all down to the patriarchy and if you're happy with that then do nothing. 

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The observation that any white harassers appear to have been edited out has been made but it's worth drawing attention to again. Writing in Slate Hanna Rosin said:  "it's a video of a young white woman who is harassed by mostly black and Latino men as she walks around New York City for 10 hours. The one dude who turns around and says, "Nice," is white, but the guys who do the most egregious things - like the one who harangues her, "Somebody's acknowledging you for being beautiful! You should say thank you more," or the one who follows her down the street too closely for five whole minutes - are not."

The maker of the film, Rob Bliss Creative, responded to the accusations of editing out white men: "We got a fair amount of white guys, but for whatever reason, a lot of what they said was in passing, or off camera, [the film] is not a perfect representation of everything that happened."

However fellow Slate writer Dee Lockett claims that white guys don't need to assert their dominance on the street and use other methods of harassment. After all they: "marked their territory centuries ago". So perhaps we should turn to the white guy behind the camera and examine him. 

It is interesting that men struggle to engage with feminism in terms of giving space, listening, prioritising lived experience. Aside from the fact that women have done similar projects before, for instance as part of Meet us on the Streets, There is a hint of a nasty after taste with this video, the film which was conceived by a man smacks of: "hey I didn't believe them either, but look!"

cis men who enter into feminism want to use it as a teaching point. Oh, for his fellow cis male friends? No, for all the ladies doing a feminism, but, like, doing it wrong. 

It is often a problem that cis men who enter into feminism want to use it as a teaching point. Oh, for his fellow cis male friends? No, for all the ladies doing a feminism, but, like, doing it wrong. Let me be clear, I want men to be involved in feminism. However for all the cis women and LGBTQ people also trying to be involved in feminism many will have witnessed a cis male enter their hard won safe space and comfortably assume the position as feminist sage. 

This is the privilege most white cis men have and it makes their good intentions empty because they regularly appear to forget the difficulties others face in speaking out, both for themselves and others. Yes they have no doubt felt fear, felt marginalised but the difference is it is regularly recognised. 

It is also yet another portrayal of a passive woman. If anything this film does she the dilemma many people face when they are harassed. Should you or should you not respond, silence - as shown in this video - can be more provocative to the harasser who gets angry, than a sharp response. 

I think here we need to give the sharp response of sharing the videos other women who have experienced street harassment and expect everyone to take our word for it. 

Squeamish Kate