A group that calls itself "Hollaback Ottawa" has lately plastered the neighbourhood with really cheap eight and half by eleven sheets telling is that "Street harassment is not a compliment". And that is true.
That needs to be said. Hollering, "Hey honey, nice ____!" at a young woman is not a compliment. It's not even meant as a compliment. It says, "You object. Me appreciator of objects."
But even though the central claim is right, everything about this group is wrong. We can start with the papers they have taped everywhere. There is an arrogance in thinking that your cause is so important that you have the right to shove it in everyone else's face.
And then there is the message: "Street harassment is not a compliment". That tells you a lot. They think that someone needs to be convinced. Who? Most guys don't holler this sort of stuff.
But it gets weirder when you visit the group's website. Because nothing there is about guys yelling out comments about women's bodies. It's about ugly street harrassment that is a very real problem in cities like Ottawa. And yet everything about this campaign is doomed to failure.
For starters it alienates the group the campaign most needs if it is going to succeed: heterosexual men. It's an overtly feminist campaign and it makes heterosexual men feel like they are the problem.
It's also very narcissistic. You can see this in what is currently the top post. It's an account of getting harassed on a #98 bus. The thing is, I'm sure the story is true (although possibly exaggerated for effect). I've been there myself. I should note that I'm six foot one and 240 pounds. As a rule, people don't mess with me.
And yet this guy did. "Hey Mr. Businessman", was how he started. And he kept building up with increasingly menacing threats. And just like the woman at Hollaback, no one else on the bus did a thing. The guy was speaking loudly enough that everyone in the general area could hear him. They all sat there looking forward, not wanting to call attention to themselves.
The guy stopped, however, and did so very quickly when I confronted him. He had counted on my being submissive and quiet. He had counted on shame keeping me meek. He obviously has very little real experience with authority figures or he would have grasped that the man in the charcoal grey suit is the very last person you want to victimize. I spoke up and spoke up loudly. I called his bluff and raised the stakes even higher. I knew he was counting on me wanting to remain inconspicuous.
And I did one other thing that I'll get to later.
It would have been a very different experience if I'd been a 130 pound woman. In her position, I couldn't use power the way I did. If a woman raises her voice, it doesn't convey power and authourity.
But the bus driver does convey power and authority. And that is the other thing I did. I made the bus driver act. She or he sits at the front of the bus, wears a uniform and comes equipped with an emergency communication system to call help and the police respond very quickly to incidents on public transit. The driver has a job to do so they can't be expected to catch every incident but once you call their attention to one, they have to act. Even if they aren't keen to help, it's not like they can hide. They're driving a big red and white bus with numbers all over it. And it's their job to report incidents once they are made aware of them.
You'll notice that the woman in the story at Hollaback does no such thing even though the thing she describes as done to her is a serious, go-to-jail crime.
Why not? Well, just read the site and you'll see why. None of this stuff is about the guys who do this stuff. It's all about the women themselves as well as other victim communities GBLT and whatever else is in the alphabet soup this week. Here is how the public transit story ends up:
And that, quite possibly, is all Hollaback Ottawa is.
As long as this is the public face of feminism, then feminism will fail.
That needs to be said. Hollering, "Hey honey, nice ____!" at a young woman is not a compliment. It's not even meant as a compliment. It says, "You object. Me appreciator of objects."
But even though the central claim is right, everything about this group is wrong. We can start with the papers they have taped everywhere. There is an arrogance in thinking that your cause is so important that you have the right to shove it in everyone else's face.
And then there is the message: "Street harassment is not a compliment". That tells you a lot. They think that someone needs to be convinced. Who? Most guys don't holler this sort of stuff.
But it gets weirder when you visit the group's website. Because nothing there is about guys yelling out comments about women's bodies. It's about ugly street harrassment that is a very real problem in cities like Ottawa. And yet everything about this campaign is doomed to failure.
For starters it alienates the group the campaign most needs if it is going to succeed: heterosexual men. It's an overtly feminist campaign and it makes heterosexual men feel like they are the problem.
It's also very narcissistic. You can see this in what is currently the top post. It's an account of getting harassed on a #98 bus. The thing is, I'm sure the story is true (although possibly exaggerated for effect). I've been there myself. I should note that I'm six foot one and 240 pounds. As a rule, people don't mess with me.
And yet this guy did. "Hey Mr. Businessman", was how he started. And he kept building up with increasingly menacing threats. And just like the woman at Hollaback, no one else on the bus did a thing. The guy was speaking loudly enough that everyone in the general area could hear him. They all sat there looking forward, not wanting to call attention to themselves.
The guy stopped, however, and did so very quickly when I confronted him. He had counted on my being submissive and quiet. He had counted on shame keeping me meek. He obviously has very little real experience with authority figures or he would have grasped that the man in the charcoal grey suit is the very last person you want to victimize. I spoke up and spoke up loudly. I called his bluff and raised the stakes even higher. I knew he was counting on me wanting to remain inconspicuous.
And I did one other thing that I'll get to later.
It would have been a very different experience if I'd been a 130 pound woman. In her position, I couldn't use power the way I did. If a woman raises her voice, it doesn't convey power and authourity.
But the bus driver does convey power and authority. And that is the other thing I did. I made the bus driver act. She or he sits at the front of the bus, wears a uniform and comes equipped with an emergency communication system to call help and the police respond very quickly to incidents on public transit. The driver has a job to do so they can't be expected to catch every incident but once you call their attention to one, they have to act. Even if they aren't keen to help, it's not like they can hide. They're driving a big red and white bus with numbers all over it. And it's their job to report incidents once they are made aware of them.
You'll notice that the woman in the story at Hollaback does no such thing even though the thing she describes as done to her is a serious, go-to-jail crime.
Why not? Well, just read the site and you'll see why. None of this stuff is about the guys who do this stuff. It's all about the women themselves as well as other victim communities GBLT and whatever else is in the alphabet soup this week. Here is how the public transit story ends up:
What happened was terrible and for me, really drove home the need for Bystander Intervention. Clearly, nobody is immune to these types of situations and even someone like myself, who is an advocate against street harassment, has self-defense training and supports surivivors of sexual violence, can be a target for street harassment and can be left feeling powerless.It's just an opportunity for her to talk about herself.
And that, quite possibly, is all Hollaback Ottawa is.
As long as this is the public face of feminism, then feminism will fail.
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