# Shoshana Roberts, a street walker (10 hours,) films herself being "harassed." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 29, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930 "2014-10-29T20:25:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/21 "2014-10-29T21:16:28Z")
It’s not quite accurate to refer to Ms. Roberts as a “[street walker.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/streetwalker)” She’s a professional actress, and I don’t find any references to her ever having accepted money for sex. If she actually were dressed like a streetwalker, it would be more understandable that strangers continually tried to talk to her. I think the word the OP was looking for was “pedestrian.” ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/22 "2014-10-29T21:21:07Z")
Question: The other day, I bought bus tickets from NJ Transit and the cashier told me - completely out of the blue - that he liked my belt. Was I harrassed? Now suppose it happened to a woman. Was she harrassed? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/23 "2014-10-29T21:25:49Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Question: The other day, I bought bus tickets from NJ Transit and the cashier told me - completely out of the blue - that he liked my belt. > > Was I harrassed? Was he grabbing your belt buckle, pulling you close to him, and whispering in your ear that he liked your belt? If so, yeah, you may have been harassed. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/24 "2014-10-29T21:27:22Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I think the word the OP was looking for was “pedestrian.” I think the word the OP was looking for is woman. He’s clearly terrified of most of us. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/25 "2014-10-29T21:29:32Z")
> [@kstarnes](#): > > Just like you’re ignoring me, I hope you’re ignoring the street walker too. She wants your attention, she wants you to think this is a big issue, don’t feed the street walker troll. Well, what do the Freepers say first, you scuz? Not to be all durpy or anything, but there are a few times when I wish assholes like you could be sued for defamation (or whatever it is that I’m actually aiming for). Calling her something she is not is low for even disgusting bile like you, so I hope with upping your game, you get busted in some way over your stroke material. Pig. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/26 "2014-10-29T21:30:08Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Question: The other day, I bought bus tickets from NJ Transit and the cashier told me - completely out of the blue - that he liked my belt. > > Was I harrassed? > > Now suppose it happened to a woman. Was she harrassed? Harrasment is rarely about an isolated event. Asking a coworker on a date is not harrassment. Asking them on a date twice a day for a year, even if politely, is harrassment. One man, making a comment on a woman’s appearance, is not harrassment. Fifty men in one day? That would be harrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/27 "2014-10-29T21:32:24Z")
> [@akwally1](#): > > A couple of points… > > This type of harassment is in the eye of the harassee. You may not feel this was harassment, and I may not feel it was harassment (I think most, but not all was) but that doesn’t count for anything. What counts is how the person walking down the street feels about it. > > Do you feel that someone just walking by owes you a response if you say something to them? Or do you think in this case it might have made the men think she was showing interest in them and they should pursue her more. > > And “street walker”? Really? Talk about poisoning the well… > Mark Street walker is technically accurate but highly deceptive, since the idiomatic use of the term refers to a prostitute. But I don’t agree that “What counts is how the person walking down the street feels about it.” What counts is whether society is prepared to recognize the conduct as harassment. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/28 "2014-10-29T21:33:10Z")
> [@akwally1](#): > > And “street walker”? Really? Talk about poisoning the well… > Mark The well was poisoned by the presence of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/29 "2014-10-29T21:36:14Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Harrasment is rarely about an isolated event. Asking a coworker on a date is not harrassment. Asking them on a date twice a day for a year, even if politely, is harrassment. One man, making a comment on a woman’s appearance, is not harrassment. Fifty men in one day? That would be harrassment. That doesn’t follow. One man, repeatedly asking out a woman, certainly can be said to be harassing her – he’s on notice from her first refusal, after all. But in this situation, the various players are not acting in concert with one another. It’s absurd to contend that a man who smiles pleasantly at a pedestrian and says, “Good morning,” is harassing her because others will (or have) also spoken to her. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/30 "2014-10-29T21:37:41Z")
Hey, that’s right… \*\*kstarnes \*\*is a fucking moron. I almost forgot! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/31 "2014-10-29T21:38:04Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Harrasment is rarely about an isolated event. Asking a coworker on a date is not harrassment. Asking them on a date twice a day for a year, even if politely, is harrassment. One man, making a comment on a woman’s appearance, is not harrassment. Fifty men in one day? That would be harrassment. Which of the men is the harasser? All 50 of them? If the 45th man did not know he was the 45th man, is he a harasser? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/32 "2014-10-29T21:42:26Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Here’s the thing. > > It’s not about “rights,” as you put it in the OP. You can be an asshole, be intimidating, be inappropriate. It might be your “right” to do so, but it doesn’t make your actions unquestionable. > > None of those comments towards her were compliments. They were all male attempts at asserting dominance over a female stranger. They are jerkish, threatening comments to their very core, and her response (or lack thereof) was not rude in the least. It was the only way to ensure her own comfort, and not engage with strangers who were attempting to enter into a power play with her. This is not apparent from the video. When I’m walking down the street and I see someone I say hello, excuse me, whatever, something to acknowledge the person’s existence, if any sort of contact is made, be it physical (accidentally bumping into them or the like) or eye contact. I certainly don’t condone the catcalls, and I do understand how intimidating and undesirable that can be, and the guys that followed her were simply beyond the pale, but a simple greeting with nothing else? Calling that an attempt at intimidation is unwarranted. Unless I missed something I counted at least two of those. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/33 "2014-10-29T21:54:32Z")
> [@akwally1](#): > > What counts is how the person walking down the street feels about it. Bullshit. What counts is cultural norms. When someone is offended at the actions of another, the rest of us are the judges of who is right and who is wrong, not either of the two. > [@](#): > > None of those comments towards her were compliments. They were all male attempts at asserting dominance over a female stranger. Just when I think I can muster a bit of sympathy, someone has to spew this crap and blow the whole thing to hell. Yeah, you heard it right, folks; “Have a nice day” is a power play. SMH. I do wonder, though, what the tally would be if they used a flat-chested, chubby 40 year old instead of a busty, young actress. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/34 "2014-10-29T21:56:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > That doesn’t follow. One man, repeatedly asking out a woman, certainly can be said to be harassing her – he’s on notice from her first refusal, after all. > > … If a first refusal was notice to cease and desist, then there’d be a whole lot more single people in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/35 "2014-10-29T21:58:59Z")
[of course, this had already been done, in a lower-tech era](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/american-girl-italy-60-years-later-221005987.html) Yet I struggle to understand her own [rememberence of the event](http://www.today.com/id/44182286/ns/today-today_news/t/subject-american-girl-italy-photo-speaks-out/) > [@](#): > > “Some people want to use it as a symbol of harassment of women, but that’s what we’ve been fighting all these years,” Craig said in a telephone interview from her home in Toronto. “It’s not a symbol of harassment. It’s a symbol of a woman having an absolutely wonderful time!” Perhaps a walk down the street is like walking on a beach: the surf may crash into you, but you know you won’t really be harmed. Or maybe America is different? A real possibility of assault, or the American component of racial friction. Or maybe old women squelch their bad memories. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/36 "2014-10-29T22:03:51Z")
The OP calls the woman “rude” and a “troll” because she has the temerity to not do what the men around her want her to do. She has the temerity to walk where she chooses, speak or not speak to whom she chooses, and look where she chooses. She has the temerity to not pay attention to men who want her attention. The OP is a misogynistic dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/37 "2014-10-29T22:04:58Z")
[Now she’s getting rape threats.](http://www.salon.com/2014/10/29/woman_in_catcall_video_reportedly_getting_rape_threats_now/) ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/38 "2014-10-29T22:13:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Now she’s getting rape threats.](http://www.salon.com/2014/10/29/woman_in_catcall_video_reportedly_getting_rape_threats_now/) “Those are love sonnets.” — _Kstarnes, demonstrating his ability to persevere despite mild mental retardation_ ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/39 "2014-10-29T22:13:38Z")
It sucks that women get approached like that all the time. But this woman overstated her case and, in doing so, hurt her case. To be honest I expected even more rudeness. But that guy who just walks alongside her for 5 minutes needs to be punched in the face by Brock Lesner. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/40 "2014-10-29T22:21:06Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > It sucks that women get approached like that all the time. But this woman overstated her case and, in doing so, hurt her case. To be honest I expected even more rudeness. But that guy who just walks alongside her for 5 minutes needs to be punched in the face by Brock Lesner. How did she overstate her case? She was an actress hired to walk and be filmed all day. What did she overstate? What did she do wrong? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930.md?page=3)