“Hey Babe, nice legs!” “Give us a smile!” “Can I hit that?”
Um, No. You can’t. Please shut up.
When was the last time you encountered street harassment? Have you ever had to deal with catcalls from car windows or creepy guys whistling at you from across the street? How do you feel when this happens?
Street harassment is a valid and serious thing. It is awkward, unsettling, potentially dangerous, and 99 percent of the time entirely unwanted. I know whenever it happens to me I feel extremely uncomfortable and violated. I’m not walking on the street for other people’s enjoyment. No, really.
Another thing about street harassment is that it seems to be something that happens everywhere around the United States, without exceptions or regard for people that they affect.
This weekend I came across an interesting artistic campaign that aims to raise awareness about street harassment as a valid form of assault and stop it from occurring. I’m going to share it with you today.
In her street-art project, “Stop Telling Women to Smile”, Brooklyn artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh takes on gender based street harassment. The project aims to take women’s faces and voices and put them in the street, creating a presence for women in an area where women are often made to feel unsafe. The art consist of taking wheat paste portraits of women created by Fazlalizadeh and adding captions to those portraits that speak directly to offenders of street harassment. HERE are a few examples of her work, which has now been posted in the streets of many cities across the United States.
On her website, (click here for website and here for tumblr) Fazlalizadeh states that the project aims to show that street harassment is not okay. Feeling entitled to demand a woman’s time, to treat and speak to women in any way you wish is also not okay. Women should be able to walk to class, to get groceries, to exercise, to catch a bus, etc, without having to cross the street to avoid the men she sees eyeing her as she approaches, which I’m sure has happened to us all.
Women (or people of any gender really, though the focus of this project was on women so that’s who I’m talking about) shouldn’t have to deal with unwanted advances. Just no. It’s not flattering. I don’t particularly care if you like what I’m wearing. I’m not here for your entertainment, and neither is anyone else.
Let’s take a moment to remember that this amazing art project that has spread across the country is NOT about cutting off all contact between genders in public areas. It simply asks to keep interactions respectful and safe. No instance of street harassment is respectful. It’s not about persuading women to feel offended. It aims to help empower women on the street and raise awareness and conversation about street harassment as a whole.
“Stop Telling Women to Smile” by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is a fascinating art project, and bringing street harassment to public attention is an important issue of public safety and gender equality.
If you want to learn more about Tatyana Fazlalizadeh’s campaign and artwork, her website link is here. If you want to watch the Huff Post video I found that got me interested in her project, you can find that here, and if you want to order “Stop Telling Women to Smile” posters to place around the streets of where you live to help fight street harassment in your community, you can do that here! (I don’t know about anyone else, but I would love to do that. Hooray for posters!)
