The above video shows Shoshana Roberts and some of the hundred plus catcalls she received while walking the streets of New York City, during a 10 hour period. It is going viral.
A few thoughts.
I do not believe the video captures the manner in which Roberts' clothing is attracting men to look at her on the street.
I knew a professional national cover girl model quite well and she
knew exactly how to dress to get attention from everyone or no one. In fact, she once told me she could dress in different ways to attract different kinds of men. If she dressed one way, she would attract aggressive men, if she dressed another way, she could attract quiet, studious men.
I was in a club with her once after she finished a photo shoot nearby. She had on her studio makeup and it turned into an absolute mob scene, where bouncers literally had to get us in a corner and keep the crowds away. I was also in that same club with her at other times, when she was dressed differently, and no one gave her special attention.
I challenge Roberts' to let me dress her in perfectly fashionable clothes and make-up, and let her walk the same NYC streets. She will get absolutely zero catcalls.
Second, the clip shows a preponderance of black "harassers." The producer of the clip claims that this does not accurately reflect the true nature of the harassment that occurs across all racial groups.
From CNN:
Bliss said that during the 10 hours captured on video, there were 108 instances of street harassment, of which he had 30 to 40 scenes with good enough quality for him to consider. He whittled that down to 20 scenes in the one minute and 57 second video. It's difficult to distinguish that about six of the men were white because the faces were blurred, Bliss said.
"We have 18 scenes where someone is visible and on camera, and two of the scenes ate up half of the run time" of the video, he said. "And yes, those two men were not white.
"We knew this wasn't going to be an accurate representation," Bliss added. "For example, there are no Asian men, but that doesn't mean that Asian men don't do this, too."
"First, we regret the unintended racial bias in the editing of the video that over represents men of color," Hollaback! said in a statement released Tuesday. "Although we appreciate Rob's support, we are committed to showing the complete picture. It is our hope and intention that this video will be the start of a series to demonstrate that the type of harassment we're concerned about is directed toward women of all races and ethnicities and conducted by an equally diverse population of men."Yeah right.
Here's a challenge for the producer of the clip. Let me pick a black hip-hop club, again one of my choosing, and have Roberts stand in front of that club for an hour, secretly filming. And let him try and produce the same amount of catcalling and ass grabbing in an hour that will occur there, at any white club, anywhere in the US. Not going to happen.
NOTE to white guys; You have not lived until you have spent 10 minutes outside of certain black clubs. There isn't much that can shock me, but I once spent 10 minutes outside one of these clubs and it did shock me.
I really have no problem with what goes on in and around these clubs. If people want to freely hang around in such an environment they should be allowed to. But to claim that there is no difference between different segments of different racial groups is absurd.
It needs to be understood that Hollaback!, of which Roberts is either a member or a sympathizer, is simply the mirror image of Radical Islam.
Radical Islam want to restrict women, Hollaback! wants to restrict men. But when it comes down to it, they are both concerned about the same thing, they want to limit the manner in which men view women. Radical Muslims want to do it by, among many different ways, controlling the way women dress, Hollaback! appears to want to do it by castrating men, either through politically correct intimidation or, by way of the legal system through harassment laws.
At its web site Hollaback! lists these potential "remedies" for street "harassment":
Potential criminal remedies include:
Assault
State statutes prohibiting harassment in public places...
“Fighting words” statutes
Anti-stalking statutes
Civil RemediesBottom line: Radical Islam and Hollaback! are both groups that really have a problem with how others live their lives and want to control everyone. I would really prefer that both groups just leave me, and the rest of us, who don't have hangs ups about the complex relationships between men and women, alone.
Civil remedies have the benefit of monetary compensation in the form of damages. If sufficiently large, such damages may provide a larger deterrent than criminal prosecution alone.
Potential civil remedies include:
Assault
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Invasion of Privacy
-RW
If this is the biggest problem she's got then she's just acting like a spoiled little brat.
ReplyDeleteWoman get a life and stoop playing your victim card. It's pathetic. Geez....the endless obsession with being a poor little victim. This is probably just attention whoring on her part.
Completely agree, RW. Fourteen years ago I spent a few days in the company of one of the Victoria's Secret supermodels on an acting project (Im also female). Among other places, we went to a supermarket, to a restaurant, and a college campus. She wore denim overalls and a plaid shirt (typical street fashion then), and no makeup. No one recognized her. She got zero attention, not even second looks from the men we passed. It was fascinating to think that those young men who ignored her probably had her poster in their room.
ReplyDeleteAs a male who likes attractive women dressed in denim overalls and plaid shirts and hates fashion, I would not in anyway say she wasn't noticed. In fact, I'd probably say that she was noticed. You don't get to be a Victoria's Secret model without having a certain body type, complexion, hair, etc., that is attractive to men. If I still did such things, I'd bet money that there were plenty of men who not only noticed her, but wanted to talk to her, but either social cues, lack of self-esteem/confidence on the man's part, or simple fear of rejection, kept them from doing so.
DeleteIn addition, her being noticed is a big difference from being recognized.
Hey JFF, I love how you weren't there and yet you know exactly what happened . As a matter of fact, her famous "body type" was hidden under the baggy overalls and shirt, her complexion was not the best without makeup, and her hair was stringy and unstyled, not the glorious mane from her photos. She got no attention from the guys we passed because she wanted it that way. You can be sure that if she wanted to be noticed, and therefore recognized (because her picture was everywhere back then), she would have been. That's the point, as RW made above. Smart women know how to do this.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think JFF is getting at is that many men notice and see right through that sort of outfit, they just aren't the kind to make a point of it. They also probably had no clue who she was.
DeleteAnother thing to consider is that some men notice, see how she is dressed, assume she does not want attention because of that, and respect it. Believe me if she was half as attractive as you describe men were noticing her even with baggy clothes, bad complexion, and stringy hair, they just weren't doing anything overt or other women distracted them.
As to a general comment, this video is deceptive. That outfit is painted on her and I think shows a lot more in person that it appears in a video. Reminds me of a woman I worked with who wore shirts like the one the woman in video wore, often long sleeve too, that covered everything and hid nothing. A couple feet away and in sunlight she might as well have been topless.
So I guess you had a unique insight into the minds of all the men she interacted with, huh? Lady, men aren't that dumb.
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