Hollaback is a movement to show awareness about street harassment. Shoshana B. Roberts volunteered to walk around New York City for 10 hours and videotaped to the interactions that went on during this time. She was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans minding her own business but she was harassed over 100 times in 10hours.
This probably isn’t new to most women who have to deal with this on an everyday basis. Many of the comments are “How you doing” or “Hey mami.” Some of these men think they are giving compliments but a lot of these behaviors are threatening. I was especially perturbed when a man walked with Roberts for five minutes without her even responding to his comments.
After the video surfaced there was a lot of backlash. An article from Cosmopolitan.com said that Roberts is receiving death threats. Here are some of the comments that Cosmopolitan.com showed:
“She definitely targeted an area where she could expect that kind of reaction. Not only that she wore a form fitting outfit that excited the imagination. I think she is a narcissists that just enjoyed the attention. Ignore her protestations, she loved the attention!” –DEREKinNYC
“OMG THIS HARASS IS SO BAD!!! My class mate harassed me today too! She said; “Hey how you doing?!”, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Later the same day the store clerk did the same thing! He said; “Have a nice evening”, what a pervert! WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO!?!?! I BETTER MAKE A VIDEO!!!” –Rasmus Romer
“Wow, 2 minutes of supposed “hrassment” out of 10 hours of walking, definite proof that all men are pigs (sarcasm). Not to mention in a city filled with millions of people.” –decayedmatter
“Donate to what> Sure! LOL. NOT! Find a job and get over your self. Now, this girl is very pretty. She wears a tight jean revealing her magnificent ass to the world and doesn’t make any effort to hide it. The description tries to pretend she is wearing some modest and anonymous combination… Well, the black doesn’t changes reality and she also has no problem sticking her booty out there.” –GabKoost
“Stop being a woman then..How can you ignore a woman that one may find attractive? Women look at me when I walk down the street…I don’t go bitching about it…i’m thankful.” –kingblllr
I personally think these comments are ignorant and stupid. First off, it shouldn’t matter what a woman decides to wear. If women want to wear something form fitting, that doesn’t give men the right to harass them. Also if you say “Stop being a woman then…” what do you honestly expect? To stay in our houses? No were not going to, so it’s about time men learn some manners.
