# 10 hours of street harassment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317 "2015-07-05T16:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/1 "2015-07-05T16:08:35Z")
I stumbled across this recently. It has 40 million views, which is a pretty big number for a YouTube video: [10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1XGPvbWn0A) (don’t worry, it’s less than 2 minutes long.) I was very surprised after watching it. I expected to be horrified. But, many of the comments were: “Have a nice day” “Hello” “What’s up” and similar comments. I don’t remotely consider this street harassment. People say things like this to me every single day. I say, “You too” “Hi” and “Not much”. I usually smile, or nod my head, when I’m doing it. I don’t remotely consider it street harassment, or harassment of any kind. I suppose I’m opening myself up to shaming as a racist by saying this, but I also noticed that in every case where someone said something remotely hostile, it was a black man. Even those cases were not that bad: “Hi beautiful” “Someone just called you beautiful, you should acknowledge that” “Why don’t you smile more” “Is it because I’m ugly” “I just saw a thousand bucks” and walking beside her for 5 minutes. But if the purpose of the video was to shame men for street harassment, is it actually shaming black men? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/2 "2015-07-05T16:25:46Z")
Here’s 700 posts on the subject [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738995](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738995) ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/3 "2015-07-05T16:28:52Z")
Sorry to bump my own thread, but you know how YouTube sucks you in… 🙂 This one is called [10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman in Hijab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgw6y3cH7tA). This one is more controversial, assume. I’ll let it speak for itself. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/4 "2015-07-05T16:32:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Here’s 700 posts on the subject > [Shoshana Roberts, a street walker (10 hours,) films herself being "harassed." - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738995) Thanks. I realize the video is months old, and some - perhaps many people - don’t want to talk about anymore. But I was hoping to participate in a thread, not just read a bunch of old comments. If you’re bored of this subject, please feel free to ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/5 "2015-07-05T16:50:15Z")
Last self bump, and I promise, swear to god, hope to die, I won’t do it again. 😛 [Man Gets Harassed Over 30 Times In 3 Hours Walking In NYC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InUeOWlgebM) This one was LOL. Particularly when the woman with her boyfriend/husband/whatever does a complete 180 to stare at him from behind, and her boyfriend grabs her arm and is like “WTF”?? and they start fighting. It’s also funny because, while I certainly think he’s better-than-average looking, I didn’t think he was _that hot_. But then, I’m a man, so maybe my hotness meter for men is poorly calibrated. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/6 "2015-07-05T18:44:26Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > I don’t remotely consider this street harassment. People say things like this to me every single day. I say, “You too” “Hi” and “Not much”. I usually smile, or nod my head, when I’m doing it. I don’t remotely consider it street harassment, or harassment of any kind. > > … > > What do you think? I think you really haven’t bothered to try to understand this woman’s point of view or the thousands upon thousands of women like her. And I think you should go back and read some of the commentary about this video not only in the thread linked above but also in other forums before trying to re-engage this issue instead of expecting all of us to start back at Square 1. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/7 "2015-07-05T18:56:31Z")
Like. Find some other outrage material to foist upon us. If it’s fresh and not stale with all the flavour chewed out of it, I promise you’ll be pleased with the response. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/8 "2015-07-05T19:05:57Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > Thanks. I realize the video is months old, and some - perhaps many people - don’t want to talk about anymore. But I was hoping to participate in a thread, not just read a bunch of old comments. If you’re bored of this subject, please feel free to ignore it. The problem is, when you can’t be bothered to read the other thread, you make stupid comments like you did in your OP that have already been hashed out a hundred times over. Also, there’s nothing stopping you from bumping the old thread if you feel you have something new to bring to the table. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/9 "2015-07-05T19:25:29Z")
Let me explain it to you. Did you see a couple of really creepy guys in there? The kind you want to just punch in the throat? Yeah, we all did. Here’s what men cannot seem to understand, and that all women know from bitter experience; What looks to you like innocent compliments are just disguised opening lines. If the women should acknowledge those innocent remarks and compliments in any way, including a glance or a smile, that guy is going to step it up and he’s going to make the creep we all wanted to punch look like a choir boy! Why is this concept so hard for men to comprehend? Do you want your teenage daughter engaging with every guy who smiles at her or says, ‘Nice legs!’ Or think it’s wiser she just ignore them, because maybe they aren’t really as innocent as they are trying to appear? Would you defend a guy in a school yard, asking children to help to find his lost puppy, with, “But it’s an innocent question?” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/10 "2015-07-05T19:30:16Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Why is this concept so hard for men to comprehend? Lots of men understand this, and lots of men don’t do that kind of behavior. Just to keep a tiny bit of perspective. That said, you are right about the other stuff, and it is clear the OP has never been a woman. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/11 "2015-07-05T20:03:59Z")
The issue here was beat to death in the original thread. In the original 10 hours video taken in one of the most densely populated places on earth 99.9% of the harassment was by black guys loitering on sidewalks. IIRC the director was chagrined that the video did not have more white participants. Outside of crowds in sidewalk bars, nightclubs and similar venues where alcohol is flowing public street call outs by white guys is very rare. This is not to say you won’t get a random creepazoid sidling up to you in a supermarket or bus platform, but addressing “guys” in general and admonishing us for being clueless creeps is going to get an annoyed reaction dismissing you as a fruitcake because in the real world very few men ever actually do public street call outs you are complaining about. And yes, you could probably easily get that reaction from any collection of inebriated men strolling past a rowdy sidewalk bar/nightclub crowd after 10 or later at night in a sexy outfit but the Outrage-O-Meter is going to be pretty tuckered at that point. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/12 "2015-07-05T20:31:25Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The issue here was beat to death in the original thread. In the original 10 hours video taken in one of the most densely populated places on earth 99.9% of the harassment was by black guys loitering on sidewalks. IIRC the director was chagrined that the video did not have more white participants. > > Outside of crowds in sidewalk bars, nightclubs and similar venues where alcohol is flowing public street call outs by white guys is very rare. This is not to say you won’t get a random creepazoid sidling up to you in a supermarket or bus platform, but addressing “guys” in general and admonishing us for being clueless creeps is going to get an annoyed reaction dismissing you as a fruitcake because in the real world very few men ever actually do public street call outs you are complaining about. > > And yes, you could probably easily get that reaction from any collection of inebriated men strolling past a rowdy sidewalk bar/nightclub crowd after 10 or later at night in a sexy outfit but the Outrage-O-Meter is going to be pretty tuckered at that point. Just out of curiosity, did you watch the other videos? > [@](#): > > IIRC the director was chagrined that the video did not have more white participants. Chagrined? Why was he chagrined? The definition of “chagrined” is “to feel distressed or humiliated”. Why would he feel distressed or humiliated that white guys aren’t engaging in street harassment? I have to say, though, that you’ve solved a problem for me. There was a certain cognitive dissonance in the fact that women complain about men engaging in street harassment, while at the same time I wasn’t seeing it. What I didn’t realize is they were talking about black men, not “men”. It just wasn’t OK to say that. * * * To the rest of you: you do realize that by posting to this thread you’re doing the opposite of what you claim you want. All you have to do is stop clicking on it, and it will go away. To put it a differently, most of the threads on any given day are boring to me. You know what I do? I don’t click them. Try following my example. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/13 "2015-07-05T20:55:50Z")
All of the questions in the OP were addressed in the other thread, including the race of the catcallers – and it was determined (at least, I think it was) that there were, in fact, multiple white catcallers in the video. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/14 "2015-07-05T21:01:13Z")
The director addressed the issue of less white men by explainng that white guys have a different technique, they tend to step in very close and speak very softly, so as not to be overheard. So a lot of that didn’t make the tape as it wasn’t really noticeable and the equipment didn’t pick up their remarks! So NO, not just black men! (Just read the other thread already!) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/15 "2015-07-05T21:07:54Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > * * * > > To the rest of you: you do realize that by posting to this thread you’re doing the opposite of what you claim you want. All you have to do is stop clicking on it, and it will go away. To put it a differently, most of the threads on any given day are boring to me. You know what I do? I don’t click them. Try following my example. Actually, I don’t care if this thread turns out to be six pages long. I stupidly thought you might be interested in educating yourself. But hey, if you’re more interested in this narcissistic posting style of yours, have at it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/16 "2015-07-05T21:18:36Z")
If you want to talk more about this topic that’s fine, but a lot of us aren’t particularly interested in answering questions that have already been answered in that thread. Perhaps you could scan through and see if you have anything new to bring up on the subject that hasn’t already been discussed, or that you don’t think was adequately addressed. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/17 "2015-07-05T21:35:26Z")
Guys, feel free to ignore this thread. Guys! Just ignore me. Bump. If you’re not interested just don’t read it. Guys! Bump. Hey! Hey! When I don’t like a thread I just don’t post to it and it goes away. Just don’t read this! ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/18 "2015-07-05T21:42:50Z")
With the past couple of weeks or so, **LinusK** has gone from a poster who seems like a decent fellow with interesting opinions to one-trick pony who needs to sit his ass down somewhere. I think he must have fallen in with a bad crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/19 "2015-07-05T22:20:47Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > With the past couple of weeks or so, **LinusK** has gone from a poster who seems like a decent fellow with interesting opinions to one-trick pony who needs to sit his ass down somewhere. > > I think he must have fallen in with a bad crowd. To be fair even back in 2007, he was starting, “Is heterosexual AIDS a myth? Just asking questions!” threads. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317/20 "2015-07-05T23:58:45Z")
Not much to see here. What I’m not seeing is responses to the topic. Instead, a group resorting to playground-style bullying tactics:\*\* iiandyiiii, Jimmy Chitwood, monstro\*\* and **Freudian Slit**. So I’m speaking to you: Yes, I know it makes you feel powerful to be part of a group shaming and belittling someone. But what it actually means is that you’re small-minded, childish, and weak. Specifically, weak-minded. Grown-ups speak their minds, even if people disagree with them. Weak-minded people resort to name-calling and piling on. You should be ashamed of yourselves. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-hours-of-street-harassment/724317.md?page=2)