You’ve heard about 10-thousand steps? What about one hundred catcalls? That’s what a woman in New York City experienced, when she took a video camera and walked through the streets, recording comments that men made to her. With a camera strapped to a friend's backpack, 24-year-old Shoshana Roberts hit the streets of New York in August.
‘How you doing? Smile,” calls out one man.
Wearing plain jeans and a t-shirt, she recorded the comments made to her by men who pass her by.
Some even follow her. You can see the discomfort on her face. She never talks, just walks and records.
One hundred and eight comments over the ten-hour time frame.
We showed the video to people like Ashley McConnell in Ottawa, who, like many women, has experienced street harassment.
‘I think it just shows how much women endure even subtly all day,’ says McConnell, ‘It has the effect of wearing someone down.’
Alayna Miller, a human rights lawyer adds, ‘She’s doing nothing to draw that attention to her.’
We also showed the video to some men, like Peter Pellizari.
‘She's not really wearing anything provocative,’ he says, ‘If she were then it would make sense that she's getting a lot of comments but she wasn't.’
‘I don't see that happening here,’ he adds, ‘maybe late at night but definitely not during the day.’
We also showed it to the stereotypical construction workers, who actually apologized for the behavior.
‘Is that on a day to day basis,’ asks Gael Mertho, ‘Do you live like that?’ he asks the reporter. ‘My sympathies, sorry.’
The Coalition to End Violence Against Women says the comments in the video are a form of harassment and demean women.
‘It has nothing to do with what you look like, what you're wearing or how you're acting,’ says Bailey Reid with the Coalition. ‘All it is, is an expression of dominance and power.’
Reid hopes the video will help men see that and realize a catcall is not a compliment. The video was shot in August and posted to YouTube. It's had nearly 8 million views and of course, a whole lot of comments on both sides.
