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STREET HARASSMENT AS GENDERLESS CONCERN IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY
RUNNING HEAD: STREET HARASSMENT AS A GENDERLESS CONCERN
Street Harassment as a Genderless Concern
In the Age of Technology
KalemaBoateng
Barnard College
Abstract
This paper explores street harassment and its implications in society from the legal as well as personal consequences of the victimized subjects of street harassment to the gender norms and assumptions drawn from the issues regarding street harassment. Street harassment is not looked upon as a genderless issue but rather dichotomized between the victims being women and men being the attackers. The sources however vary in their language as well as target. Bowman (1993) suggests that women are the predominant targets of street harassment which causes them to be victimized in a double entendre which she names “ghettoization.” Mui and Murphy (2002) demonstrate in their book of multiple essays that harassment in the public sphere embodies compound layers of issues regarding, race, class and gender. This paper attempts to examine the multitude of layers offered by Bowman (1993), Mui and Murphy (2002) while questioning how the role of technology Hollaback (2005) acts as an asset or hindrance to street harassment in order to conceptualize street harassment reform. If in fact we candecode the implications of street harassment by acknowledging its gendered assumptions we may begin to accept street harassment as a new age progressive movement.
Street Harassment asaGenderless
Issueinthe Age of Technology
Street Harassment still has not become a genderless issue of concern and it happens every single day all across the world. How is this possible when it is said that we are in an age of technology and intelligence that surpasses our past? Social media has barricaded our expectations of communication. There are minute to minute accounts of communication just through the internet. So my question is in an age of technology and lightening speed fast ways of communicating how is it possible that women are being subject to street harassment and nothing is being done about it? Sexual harassment has proven to be a concern and was brought to light within the corporate world. However, sexual harassment has proven to be the umbrella of other assaults concerning women. Although I do feel that men are not taken into the equation of ever being street harassed and always comprised of being the assaulter it causes me to question why is street harassment always considered a problem of victimized women? I must say unless the man harassed is a homosexual he is emasculated as being harassed just as a woman would; termed “gay bashing.” The same goes for a homosexual woman who assumes to be the participant aggressor of the street harassment; when homosexual orientation is in the equation the roles of the aggressor and victim of the street harassment changes. Therefore gender norms and messages are being placed on each gender. The difficultly in finding resources that support street harassment of men, heterosexual, homosexual or any other sexual orientation, confirm the biased target that perpetuates street harassment of women.
Existing studies of street harassment have failed to be inclusive and except been exclusive by gendering harassment as a women’s issue. Street harassment still has not become a genderless and flexible issue of concern amongst people of varying social classes, races and cultures. It has proven to be a concern only to women and more specifically lessening the importance of women of low-income, “minority”status. Davis (2002) reinforces my argument that street harassment is an issue men do not suffer…to the extent women do. However, I impose that society projects the stereotypes of masculinity and assumes that men view street harassment innocuous, trivial, “boys will be boys,” type of behavior (Davis 2002) which in turn causes a societal gap giving media the means to publicize women as the “normal” victims and men as the superior aggressors of the act. If in fact these implicit messages are shown through our technology and language, women as well as men begin to conform into the stereotypes projected upon them. More importantly street harassment in which Bowman (1993) and Mui and Murphy (2002) fail to address is the larger implications of street harassment as a subcategory of larger gender issues regarding normal behaviors of femininity and normal behaviors of masculinity. If we examine street harassment as a harmby “giving a harm a name,” I do agree as this is the first step in making the harm visible (Davis 2002). In this paper I argue thereby street harassment is genderless in the face of the assaulter and is an act that conforms to the stereotypes of genders, and should be accepted as a genderless concern of importance in all modes of media in an age of technology in communities that voices are less heard.
In Bowman’s (1993) scholarly article summary of street harassment condemning the social justice system in the Unites States I disagree with her definition of street harassment. She states: The harassment of women in public places by men who are strangers to them (Bowman 1993). By inaccurately defining what street harassment is she fails in defending her target as well as making it “visible.” Mackinnon (2002) defines street harassment as a feminist issue which excludesmen as being victimized. Whereas, later scholarly writer Deidre and Davis (2002) attempts to rectify by acknowledging men do not suffer street harassment to the extent women do. Anthropologist MicaeladiLeonardo states; street harassment occurs when one or more strange men accost one or more women…in a public place which is not the woman’s/womens worksite. Through looks, words, or gestures the man asserts his right to intrude on the woman’s attention, defining her as a sexual object, and forcing her to interact with him. Leonardo (1981), Bowman (1993) and Mackinnon (2002) all assume the roles as fitting to men and women. Bowman (1993) suggests that street harassment has some defining characteristics: (1) the targets of street harassment are female; (2) the harassers are male; (3) the harassers are unacquainted with their targets; (4) the encounter is face to face. (5) the forum is a public one, such as a street, sidewalk, bus, bus station, taxi, or other place to which the public generally has access; but (6) the content of the speech if any is not intended as public discourse. Assuming the target is female and the harasser is male is inaccurate. The detailed qualities of a typical street harassment encounter do not always fit into Bowman’s account in which she acknowledges throughout her article. Furthermore, I would like to add this list needs a serious emphasis on the inclusion of the other gender as well as modifications that can assume more fluidity and flexibility of other cases. What happens when cases challenge these characteristics of a “normal” street harassment case? In the field of civil rights and feminism their seems not to be enough or none information at all about street harassment in the realm of men being the victim which can be synonymous to other assault accounts such as sexual assault and rape in men.
Categorizing men as the violent, malicious, aggressors and women as the meek submissive passerby suggest implicit messages that are not being addressed by the feminist writers that have commented on street harassment as an issue of feminist concern. Statistically proven street harassment is centered towards women therefore this will be the focus of my argument however, characterizing men as the violent assaulter does not help the argument of attempting to fix and identify the issue of street harassment and more broadly harassment in general.Today, in an age of media technology and social media websites we have the capability and resources of broadcasting uncomfortable situations such as harassment. This being said, technology can either help mobilize or hinder the movement of transforming street harassment. Sexual harassment first must be considered a movement amongst all people and be identified as a problem first. I feel this is the first step. Also addressing the ways in which language and terminology in expressing street harassment as a concern of gender norms must be discussed the first mistake is addressing street harassment as a feminist concern and not addressing street harassment as a concern for everyone. If tomorrow women began to harass men it should still be looked upon as a wrongful doing and not just an issue for women.
Secondly, the relationship between street harassment and technology must be exercised in a positive light. Street harassment websites have utilized technological resources in order to broadcast the negativity of street harassment. What I would like to state is technology can be positive but how are the environments where street harassment is more salient being made known of technology in broadcasting their stories. Statistically speaking women of color specifically of African American and Latina descent are of the highest rating of street harassmentbut are titled under the general umbrella as women. Hollaback (2005) documents harassment stating studies conducted show that between 80-90% of women have been harassed in public. Yes by generalizing street harassment as a vast issue amongst women is helpful however; this overextension overshadows specific groups of women. How are specific groups of women’svoices being heard if internet access in communities where financial instability and unemployment is the highest helpful being generalized as “women”? Can women feel empowered and feel like something will actually be done about street harassment if they broadcast their stories? These questions unfortunately have fallen on deaf ears but some organizations such as Hollaback (2005) have begun toutilize internet access to encourage women to share their stories of street harassment in an open space or forum setting to bring to light how street harassment affects women across the world. Is this essentially enough? Hollaback (2005) and the handful of organizations that help subside and fight towards eradicating harassment in urban settings should feel broadcasting stories is a large task that is not enough. As it opens the floor for bringing the issues forth specific groups of women such as minorities are not gaining full access or realizing the change that can be done by such social websites.
Moreover, Bowman (1993) states: periods of recession and unemployment also seem to be associated with increases in the incidence of street harassment by literally placing men on the streets in many neighborhoods. This positive correlation between street harassment and unemployment prove the prevalence in financially unstable communities displaying the importance of targeting women and men in these communities. For women who are already living in the “ghetto” there is an extra layer of oppression aside from being a slave in your own home and as well as to your body. Davis (2002) consequently, the psychological oppression of street harassment has a different-not a double-impact on African American women given their embodiment as indivisible beings. Street harassment forces African American women to realize that the ideologies of slavery still exist. Finally, the failure to perceive street harassment as a harm causes women to “transform the pain into something else, such as, for example, punishment, or flattery, or transcendence, or unconscious pleasure.” African American women’s voices are in turn not heard due to street harassment not being taken as a serious concern for legal action or acknowledgement. Therefore race is disregarded as well as class. Robin West (1993) states: Women suffer unpunished and uncompensated sexual assaults continually Women who live in urban areas and walk rather than drive or take taxis endure tortuous or criminal sexual assaults daily. Although we have a trivializing phrase for these encounters-“street hassling- these assaults are not at all trivial. They are frightening and threatening whispered messages of power and subjection. They are, in short, assaults. Yet, men who harass women on the street are not apprehended, they are not punished, the victims are not compensated, and no damages are paid the entirely transaction is entirely invisible to the state. Thereby nothing is being done or can be done that encompasses the horror of street harassment that will suffice the terror the victim endures or continues to endure.
Conclusion
My attempt was to suggest the ways in which language is presenting street harassment to the public is biasing our perception in the ways in which we implement consequences. Although statistics do show that street harassment is most prevalent of women there is not enough evidence that display the stories of the ways in which males play into the issue of street harassment unless they are the assaulters. There are men who do not support street harassment and this is portrayed in scholarly articles that support the claim that harassment of any kind is an injustice to a person’s individuality as well as civil rights. However, not offering or including men into the equation as just assaulters in order to support the evidence street harassment occurs is wrong and will never help but instead hinder men from actually wanting to participate in lessening the ways in which harassment occurs. I do feel that street harassment will not be eradicated but how we lessen and define why it is wrong and the ways in which it is right is of extreme importance. Highlighting the negatives of street harassment is just half of the battle. The definition of street harassment does not leave room or flexibility for instances when there is undocumented evidence of women who would respond positively to a compliment in the street. Inclusion of other genders specifically men in which it is less salient to realize street harassment as a non-feminist issue must happen. The agreement that women are the socially constructed umbrella that harbors various groups states that universality does not exactly mean uniformity. Street harassment is running into an issue of inclusion of categories and exclusion of other categories that seem to be hindering its progression.
Discussion
Essentially as a Bronx, New York native and a woman of African American descent the term street harassment was not heard to me until recently. In other words, my perspective speaks close to home on “street harassment.” Whereas the attempts to subside the street harassment that happens daily in my neighborhood I do not know the helpfulness of Hollaback and will argue that more importantly imposing titles and normal ways of behavior on each gender hinders the message that street harassment is an all encompassing issue. What about the woman who states, “if I don’t get hit on in the street I feel less feminine or pretty.” Different women may experience street harassment in different ways, though. For a very young girl, it is one of her first lessons in what it means to be a sexual being – a confusing and shame-producing experience (Bowman 1993). Can street harassment be looked as positive? How are these voices accepted or rejected in the movement of street harassment? Thereby, street harassment is genderless in the face of the assaulter and should be accepted as a genderless concern of importance in all modes of media in an age of technology in communities that voices are less heard. Muriel Dimenone of the first writers to comment on street harassment or “hassling” displays the negative allegations it fosters on the victim. Dimen (1986) states the following;A woman walks down a city street. A man whom she does not know makes an obscene noise or gesture. She counters with a retort or ignores him and walks on. This is a common enough sequence of events. It happens every day of the year. ... Superficially, this is a simple, ordinary encounter. But beneath the surface is a complexity of feeling, thought, and intention that, despite two decades of feminist theorizing and two millennia of women writing about women, we have just begun to decode. Hidden in this complexity are the personal and political contradictions of women's lives, making the experience of street has-sling the quintessential moment of femininity in our culture. I might add along with writing about women we have not begun to write about men unless in relation to women.
Once street harassment is constructed and understood to be a harm that plays a role in the sexual terrorism that governs women’s lives by genderizing the street in order to perpetuate female subordination, street harassment becomes visible as a harm (Davis 2002). Bell Hooks (1981) accurately explained this exchange as premised upon the assumption that all Black women, regardless of their class, are prostitutes and are available as sex objects. The black female body is not her own but instead for display and for everyone’s usage. Black women I might add suffer more from street harassment than any other racial group because media depicts and slave-era mentality perpetuates black women’s oppressive states. When delving into the psyche of those harassed it takes a toll on women’s self esteem (Bowman 1993). The major and most important consequence of street harassment is it disenfranchises women and causes them to realize how others experience “her” body. The relationship between the harasser and harassed varies as stated in Philosophy and Women for example: They could, after all, have enjoyed me in silence… But I must be made to know that I am “a nice piece of ass”; I must be made to see myself as they see me (Bartky 1979). The ways in which the harassed experiences their body is made known to them causing them to have no control over what is interpreted. This poses a huge problem as a traumatic experience as well as harassment as a teaching tool for oppression. Harassment may also teach women to be ashamed of their bodies and to associate their bodies with fear and humiliation. It does so by reminding women that they are vulnerable to attack and by demonstrating that any man may choose to invade a woman’s personal space, physically or psychologically, if he feels like it. Thus, street harassment forms part of a whole spectrum of means by which men objectify women and assert coercive power over them, one which is even more invidious because it is so pervasive and appears, deceptively, to be trivial (Bowman 1993). Evasive and breaks the fabric of a woman’s positive experience with her body making it not intimate and excluding her from creating her personal ideas about her body instead she develops her ideas about her body from others.