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| @Markus Spiske |
Written by Rachel Langan (she/her) for The Rising Womxn Zine
Sometimes sexism parades itself as almost inconspicuous, something that seems like it isn’t really there, lurking in your inner consciousness, and if you dare to mention it out loud, you’re seemingly being ‘dramatic’ or you ‘can’t take a joke.’ Sexual harassment is often reduced to merely an unremarkable part of daily life that you simply ‘have to get on with.’ The ‘innocent’ act of someone getting that bit too close to you on a packed bus and ‘accidentally’ touching your bottom by pressing themselves up against you from behind, is often results in you being told you’re overreacting and if anything, you were at fault. Other times, it’s blatant and painfully apparent. So much so that it calls you to question whether we really do live in a so-called modern and evolving society, or whether we’ll forever be in a Neanderthal state of thinking that wolf whistling at a woman in the street, or openly discussing a woman’s breasts in front of her, whilst in a group of people, is totally acceptable behaviour.
Sexism and resulting sexual harassment are still pretty commonplace today in all its forms, and this is something that Laura Bates (she/her), activist and writer wanted to voice. She founded the Everyday Sexism Project online, allowing for women all across the globe to share their stories of sexual harassment. The stories they received were heart wrenching, from girls as young as 13 to women in their 80s, all sharing the same commonality; they had been demeaned and degraded to merely an object, left dehumanised and sadly, ashamed. The vast majority of stories were related to the workplace, which in itself is a shocking finding. Yet, some progress has been made by introducing the Workplace Sexual Harassment Law in 2010, as part of the Equality Act which protects workers and employees from sexual harassment in the workplace. This is significant progress, and alongside the seismic #MeToo movement led by Tarana Burke which came to light in 2015, more and more people are becoming aware of how crucial it is to stand up and recognise that every day sexism and sexual harassment should not be happening.
But, it’s often the seemingly ‘well-intentioned’ gestures and ‘harmless’ words that sadly seem so ordinary, that are the ones that require most attention, and are the ones that call you to ask yourself ‘should I say something? Or am I overreacting’ By no means am I attempting to suggest that flippant throwaway comments from men in the street have more of a direct impact on women than those women who have been sexually harassed and abused, but this is where it stems from. This idea was brilliantly summarised by a police officer interviewed by Libby Brooks, for her article on sexual harassment in The Guardian, back in 2018. The officer stated clearly that “today’s flasher is tomorrow’s rapist.” Without calling out this behaviour, educating people on the repercussions of their actions and thus stamping out this treatment towards women, there will always be a need for Laura Bate’s Everyday Sexism project. There will always be significant amounts of women responding to sexual harassment claims they’ve heard or seen online, stating ‘that happened to me, too’. There will always be the urge for women to feel they need to alter their appearance and who they are as a person, if it means they won’t be sexually harassed the next time they step outside their door. Despite how sickening this is, being angry about it is important, but it won’t bring about real change. Action is imperative and must be the overriding movement that we make.
How? Start small. Laura Bates included a sensational array of women’s and some men’s responses to being harassed or seeing other women being harassed in the street and they are so empowering. When one woman was yelled the customary line of ‘get your tits out!’, she decided instead of walking away with her head down, to look down at her breasts like she’d never noticed them before, and scream at the top of her lungs in fright. Safe to say, it shut up her harassers. Also, a man stated that when he saw another man being harassing a young woman in the street, he chased after him and asked him why he said what he did. The man in question had no answer, because he did not know why he had said the sexist comments in the first place. These seemingly small acts of resistance are so powerful. More often than not, the person issuing their crude remarks or making an unwelcomed move on you in a bar aren’t expecting you to turn round and ask them why they’re doing it or further still, to stop them in their tracks. By removing the power imbalance and taking it back for yourself, or by standing up for someone else who isn’t able to, it leaves the perpetrator confused and makes them feel small. Just like how their actions make women feel. This, is how we can make a change. It may only seem to be a small drop in the ocean, and for some who have experienced much worse or more serious crimes, it may seem too little too late. But, by starting now, you could help prevent that flasher turning into something worse, and much more serious. The more we pull together and educate others on how their actions affect women, the more this will trickle down into the next generation and the generation after that, into a society where sexual harassment is no longer a regular occurrence. If not now, then when?
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