Street Harassment

Hey Mami, You look delicious, Ay Canchita, me gustaaa, Hey Lady Come back here, Quiero tocarte. Donde vives? Tienes un novio etc etc. 

So lately there have been a lot of things going around the interwebs about street harassment. After watching the video of the girl walking around New York I decided to write a little about what that is like In Guatemala.

I have envisioned writing this post more times than I can count while being in country. I feel like this is the first time I can really articulate my thoughts and feelings in a more coherent and mature way than a string of curse words and death threats, which is generally my first mental reaction.

Within recent months I have started to do a little research in hopes of finding the answer as to why women are treated with such little respect and frankly objectified in ways that are downright shameful at times. The closest thing I can have been able to encounter has to do with the Civil Conflict in Guatemala where men in the army were instilled with such a deep sense of misogyny that it still resonates today. Though I am positive that the issue of harassment has a deeper and more complex beginning and reason (?) for continuance this is the only one I have been able to find that makes me feel slightly less of a murderous rage. Slightly. I know that the harassment has bigger and deeper implications, but for now this is what I have to tell myself so that I can make it through the day without causing someone some form of very serious physical pain.

Last week I was having an especially hard time with the harassment. It was one of the last weeks of school, I had to see my creeper director who always puts his hand(s) on my hip, and both on the way to and from the school I was yelled at and touched by a myriad of random men. I wish I could describe the feeling that ensues after experiencing the near constant bombardment of provocation by what feels like half of all the men in my community. Though I know that is a considerable exaggeration it begins to feel like it IS everyone. And  poca a poca I started to realize that I don’t trust hardly any man here. Every action must have an alternative motive, every man walking near me between the ages of 16 and 40 is going to try and touch me, or at least yell at me. I literally tense when I see a man who will cross my path. It is such a horrible jaded feeling. I have always been a distrusting person when it comes to men, but being here has exacerbated that distrust astronomically.

Last Saturday a few volunteers and I came in to have a session on diversity with the new volunteers and explain the challenges that we have faced and why. The biggest challenge for me is being a woman here. I went on to explain how in the five hours it took me to get to the office I was either yelled at or touched without my permission four times. That number might not seem like that big of a deal, but after day in and day out of that it completely wears a person down, making them jaded and angry, so distrusting that it’s sad, ugh.

I am talking to a lovely lady in Mexico who explained that it is very similar there, and that you just deal with it, you become accustomed to it. After being in Guate for almost nine months I have become accustomed to so many things: the food, languages, travel, lack of water, how everyone smells at least a little like mildew, so many things, but this is one thing I hope to never become fully accustomed to, I don’t think any person should ever have to deal with the perpetual onslaught of slurs that make their skin crawl and being randomly accosted because your body is seen as nothing more than an object, something to be desired, and coveted by the male gaze, and ultimately an object that will be subjected to the desire of those around them that actually have a voice.  

Street Harassment video if you haven't seen it yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_zGKqbIvJs
Also, if you haven't seen it, critiques of the video pointing out extremely important things such as the racial politics
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/10/29/catcalling_video_hollaback_s_look_at_street_harassment_in_nyc_edited_out.html
or even this one!
http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/lindy-west-catcalling-video/?fb=dd

look at all the links! And acknowledge that sexual harassment is a douche move perpetrated by people of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities etc. Anyone and everyone can be an ass...so just don't.