I THINK I'M GOING TO GO YELLOW WALLPAPER CRAZY IF I DON'T COME UP WITH A RESPONSE TO STREET HARASSMENT THAT WORKS.

i wrote that line above in an email to a friend today. i almost turned violent today against a guy who harassed me on the street--he basically tried to grope me and i screamed at him. it's terrible around here (i work in west midtown in the garment district), the way that street harassment is a constant. my favorite thing about winter is that the harassers stand on the street less and consequently harass me less. i am so fucking angry that no one understands this phenomenon, that people never equate the fact that people yelling at you on the street, even when they're saying 'hey sexy' is still a precursor to violence and there's always the threat of violence. why can't i come up with a short, succinct and simple way to say that street harassment builds a culture of violence against women in which 1 in 3 women is raped, molested and/or beaten in her lifetime?* Think of 6 women you know, think of 9 women you know and think of how many of them have been through this. so here's my challenge, when you see misogynists of all shapes, sizes, genders and colors say that women are overreacting, step in. nobody's fucking overreacting. women make less money than men do, bear the brunt of childbearing without the support of the state, are incredibly likely to be sexually assaulted, and continually have our rights to control our own bodies threatened. OPEN CALL: CREATIVE AND EFFECTIVE RESPONSES TO STREET HARASSMENT just email me if you want to think about what we can do together. i have a few ideas up my sleeve: ayen.tran (at) gmail.com i'm trying to come up with smart and effective ways to visually and verbally communicate the effects of street harassment and the connection it bears to violence against women, how it enables violence against women. lastly, it's not that no one's doing anything. in particular the organization i used to intern for, vday, does a lot and is one of the most inspiring groups i know. the founder eve ensler's play 'the vagina monologues' has also done a lot to end violence against women. also, the The Street Harassment Project is great. thanks to everyone who sent ideas in--send me more! *stat from UN reports