Erin's Story

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:45:31 -0400

A few nights ago, I was walking home from Theo’s, a dingy little restaurant on the outskirts of Lansing. I was strolling down Albert Street, completely alone. Because it was so late, no people were out on their porches. No cars were going by on the streets. There was nothing out there but me, a 20 year-old woman, my only weapon my purse and laptop case.

All of a sudden, I heard a trampling from across the street, and a guy — around my age — came sprinting down the sidewalk, screaming to his two male companions about how fast he can run while drunk. This made me a little nervous, but I figured they were relatively harmless MSU students, lost on their way home from a party. Suddenly, one of them turned around and yelled to someone passing by in a car, “Billy Crystal is a faggot.”

In the privacy of my own apartment, I do not pay much attention to political correctness. However, I do not use words such as “faggot” in public, as people who hear it may take me seriously and, in turn, feel intimidated by the word’s usage. I gave the young man a stern look, a small way of letting him know that his language was not okay with me. As an unarmed woman walking the streets alone at night, confronting him in any other way was out of the question. Soon I realized even this small confrontation was a mistake.

He stopped and pointed at me from across the street. Slightly unnerved by this gesture, I began to walk faster. He and his friends seemed to find this funny. As my pace quickened, so did theirs. For a young woman who still lives in a society where violence against women is a major problem, and who is attending a university with a high rate of sexual assault, this instilled fear in me. I called my roommate. Just as I informed him I was walking home alone and a man across the street was making me nervous, the man charged at me.

I was wrong. He merely laughed, and his friends joined in too, as if the panic a young woman endures when facing the threat of physical violence was some kind of joke. He then crouched down, and waddled up behind me, zigzagging back and forth across the street. I yet again threatened to call the police, and then began running. As I took off, I heard him yell, “Don’t run! If you keep running, I’ll call the police!”Horrified, I screamed and informed him if he came any closer I’d call the police. I had no intention of doing so, but hoped the threat would at least deter him from harassing me further.

The reason this incident continues to enrage me is not so much that I legitimately feel my safety was threatened. I am fairly certain now that the young man did not intend on harming me. What bothers me was the dehumanizing nature of what occurred. I felt as if I was being punished for two things: being offended by the use of a highly derogatory term and being a woman alone at night. The more hysterical I became, the funnier the young man and his group of friends found the situation. When it became obvious I was intimidated, they not only neglected to stop their behavior, but they actually increased its intensity.

Why would anyone think this was okay? Why would people think that deliberately frightening women and minority groups through hate speech and threatening gestures is something to be laughed at? The man and his friends even seemed to take a certain pride in what they were doing, as if this was some kind of sick sport.

The fact is, many people think violence against women was a battle won in the 1970s by Gloria Steinem and an army of feminists. Therefore, they feel no need to monitor their actions or words in regards to people’s fears. In reality, violence against women is still a massive problem today. According to the National Organization for Women, women from age 20-24 are most likely to be the victims of some form of sexual violence. This is our age group.

NOW also reports that the Justice Department recently found one out of every five college-age women will experience rape during her years at university. Taking this into consideration, was it really unreasonable for me to have been frightened that night? Those three men apparently thought so. Also, the fact that one of them used the term “faggot” added to my fear. Minority women, such as lesbians, are at greater risk for sexual violence.

In 2006, NOW reported 600 women a day were raped or sexually assaulted. This particular study was unique in that it took cases not reported to the police into account. Many women fail to inform authorities of sexual violence, as they believe they are to blame for their assault. Even from my relatively harmless experience, I gained a small bit of insight into this mind frame. For a minute or two after the incident, I felt guilty for having given the man a dirty look, as if what occurred was somehow my fault. This ideology that, as women, we are meant to be passive is internalized in every faction of our society. Naturally, if we come into some kind of trouble, we will blame ourselves first.

Writing this is my way of taking action. Rather than letting those three men get to me, I want them and others to understand their behavior was not acceptable. Intimidating women in any way, shape, or form sends a message: this world is not yet safe for you. While those three men may view the incident on Albert Street as an amusing anecdote — the tale of the hysterical woman who overreacted — to me it is a reminder that people still think sexual assault is a non-serious matter. That night, I was deliberately intimidated, harassed, and frightened, and what made it worse was that the men doing it thought it was funny. Violence against women is not a joke, but a current and prevalent problem in our society, especially among our age group. The first step to fixing the problem is being aware. Remember how your words and actions affect others. Hate speech and intimidation can and will be taken seriously, and rightfully so, by women walking alone late at night.

A group of young men from Delta Sigma Phi hid inside their house...

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:40:00 -0400

A group of young men from Delta Sigma Phi hid inside their house and yelled at me through the window as I walked by around midnight last weekend:

“Hey, I’ll give you $10 for a blow job - $15 if you look me in the eye!”

“Relax, it’s a compliment.”

“You have a nice ass, I’d like to come in it.”

Thanks to these cowards, I have nothing to post but the whole frat.

If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em!

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:10:35 -0400

Today at work, my friend and I stumbled upon this: http://hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/

New Yorkers started this website to document street harassment in photos, videos, and text. The idea was to stop hiding and to start interrogating the pervs themselves. In their own words:

Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you’re commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd’s fantasy.

It was relevant to our lives, living in a Big Ten college town where this happens to us all the time.

So here’s the plan: we want to reproduce this idea here in East Lansing. This is a space where you can call out pervs/turds/and other miscreants by posting your story, photo, or video of the perps. You can do this in two ways: email your story/photo/video to hollabackel@gmail.com or submit it right here on the site using the “submit” tab.

Although we can share these things privately with one another, we want to get public. Who are we protecting anyway?

Holla.

—Stephanie and Lia

East Lansing, MI

"THIS ABOVE ALL ELSE, REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM. - Margaret Atwood"

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:37:00 -0400

“THIS ABOVE ALL ELSE, REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM.
- Margaret Atwood”

Holla Back E.L.

Erin's Story

A group of young men from Delta Sigma Phi hid inside their house...

If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em!

"THIS ABOVE ALL ELSE, REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM. - Margaret Atwood"