Have you heard of “Hollaback”? Not “Hollaback Girl” that awful Gwen Stefani song…but Hollaback! Organization? I hadn’t either…but damn, are they awesome. They aim to “take action against street harassment: don’t just walk on…Hollaback!”
According to their website: “The real motive of street harassment is intimidation. To make its target scared or uncomfortable, and to make the harasser feel powerful. But what if there was a simple way to take that power away by exposing it? You can now use your smartphone to do just that by documenting, mapping, and sharing incidents of street harassment. Join an entire community ready to Hollaback!”
Their mission is to: “end street harassment powered by a network of local activists around the world. We work together to better understand street harassment, to ignite public conversations, and to develop innovative strategies to ensure equal access to public spaces.”
To do this they take out ad campaigns on sidewalks, subways, street corners and it’s so cool. The ads say things like “Nice A** Is Not A Compliment”, “If You See It Happen, Have Her Back”, and “Hey Sexy Is Not A Compliment”.
I love this so hard. Really, I cannot count the number of times I’ve said into my cell phone, “Oh no oh no I don’t want to walk by these guys” or “Ugh, sorry some guys were making cat calls”. It doesn’t make me feel good it makes me feel vulnerable, distracted, and gross. I just want to walk to my destination without having to cower from booming voices whistling or saying, “Hey baby”. It’s a form of intimidation and it’s a form of subversion. I’m glad someone is taking a stand. Holla!
