As a woman, I can tell you that the street harassment I've experienced is very real…especially here in New York City, where people flash into your life for just a moment.
Here at LittleThings, we've featured several videos that tackle problematic street harassment and catcalling from around the world. It's never OK, and it doesn't just happen to women. Men can definitely be victims, too, as you can see in this seriously awkward video. Even though some of these catcalling prank videos can be funny, the situation is no laughing matter, and if you've ever experienced seriously offensive street harassment, you know that.
The following video has been viewed more than 40 million times on YouTube and for good reason. It shows just how much street harassment a woman living in Manhattan has to endure everyday. In the video, we see 24-year-old Shoshana Roberts walking around a variety of neighborhoods in NYC for 10 hours, while director Rob Bliss walks in front of her with a hidden camera on his back. Shoshana — who is not a model, and wears jeans and a plain t-shirt — isn't drawing attention to herself in any way, and yet she is still harassed more than 100 times.
While telling Shoshana to smile more is one of the least offensive moments in the video, it really got to me. I'm a pretty happy person, so I can't stand when strangers say things like that to me. Here's when I'd like to say "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," but when random people say things like "you're beautiful," it's more like "don't talk to strangers," isn't it?
What do you think is the worst part of this video?
Please SHARE this video on Facebook to help put an end to harassment and catcalling!
