R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

DEREK WU
Staff Writer

Street harassment is an action often done by men all over the world. This includes any forceful action or communication that is may also be disrespectful. It is often motivated by sexism toward women and how they are supposed to act or dress.

Street harassment occurs almost everywhere; according to an online survey in 2008 811 females had reported that 99 percent of them had experienced some type of street harassment that includes stalking or verbal comments in public places.

Males are usually driven to harass females because of misogyny and gender generalizations in our modern society. Men and women are often pressured to act and dress in a certain way that fits expected gender roles depicted in media and society. Women are generally considered weaker and often seen as a person who needs to rely on men. Recently, Marvel came out with T-shirts for men and women, with the male T-shirts having phrases such as “Be A HERO,” while the female version had phrases such as “I Need A Hero “ and “I Only Kiss Heroes,” indicating that the presence of certain stereotypes and general disrespect toward women is visible not only in the public, but also in large corporations.

This problem that women face every day, there are many different types of street harassment ranging from verbally disrespecting a person, to violently harassing a person. Any type of harassment is unacceptable and should be stopped immediately.

There are several methods to stop and spread information about street harassment. Talking to peers and posting online blogs and statuses are effective examples of sharing these perspectives via online means.

Street harassment remains a problem that women still faces. However, with the growing public resources that continue to spread the discomfort women feel toward this issue, street harassment will hopefully decrease over the years.