# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/41 "2014-10-29T22:21:11Z")
Some of us cannot view video at work, so I can only assume she has a camera-person walking backwards a few feet in front of her. Is this correct? If so, doesn’t this kinda skew what reality is? Are passers-by more or less likely to make asses of themselves when they know they are being filmed? How many average jerks whooped it up for the camera? How many would-be mashers and miscreants saw the camera and thought it best to back away? How many are just idiots who are not burdened with self-awareness? ---
**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, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/42 "2014-10-29T22:21:57Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Some of us cannot view video at work, so I can only assume she has a camera-person walking backwards a few feet in front of her. Is this correct? > If so, doesn’t this kinda skew what reality is? Are passers-by more or less likely to make asses of themselves when they know they are being filmed? How many average jerks whooped it up for the camera? How many would-be mashers and miscreants saw the camera and thought it best to back away? How many are just idiots who are not burdened with self-awareness? It’s a hidden camera in a backpack, I think. ---
**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, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/43 "2014-10-29T22:22:19Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Some of us cannot view video at work, so I can only assume she has a camera-person walking backwards a few feet in front of her. Is this correct? > If so, doesn’t this kinda skew what reality is? Are passers-by more or less likely to make asses of themselves when they know they are being filmed? How many average jerks whooped it up for the camera? How many would-be mashers and miscreants saw the camera and thought it best to back away? How many are just idiots who are not burdened with self-awareness? The camera was hidden in a backpack of someone walking in front of her. No one should have known they were being filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/44 "2014-10-29T22:22:55Z")
Thread reported for the offensive title. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/45 "2014-10-29T22:23:30Z")
> [@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. Talking to someone is not asserting dominance. Shit, even if one of the guys just really wants to make sexy time and asks her if she’s interested that’s not asserting dominance. It’s unlikely to be successful, but it aint harassment. She was exposed to some harassment - like the guy walking with her for several minutes. But she over stated her case trying to make a point and in my mind it backfired. ---
**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, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/46 "2014-10-29T22:32:30Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > But she over stated her case trying to make a point and in my mind it backfired. Where did she overstate her case? What did she do wrong? She was an actress hired to walk for 10 hours and be filmed. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/47 "2014-10-29T22:34:29Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > 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. Or a man! I bet none of them would have even wished him a nice day … ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/48 "2014-10-29T22:41:39Z")
Here’s my question for the “they’re just paying a compliment!” people: How many random, male, unknown-to-you passersby (i.e. not a cashier) do you pay a compliment on their looks or wish a nice evening in a random day? I’m a tall, broad-shouldered male with a brisk walking pace, and my lifetime number is in the high teens, I’d bet. It just doesn’t happen with any regularity, and let’s not kid ourselves about what the intent of the compliment was. It’s like the Pulp Fiction line: “Would you give a man a foot massage?” Now, any one individual comment or “good evening” might not have any ill intent, but the collective weight of these attempted interactions would wear on you, to the point where they’d just become noise amongst all the other more severe catcalls and stalking. So if you’re hanging your hat on that, congratulations, you’ve missed the point. There is still an insistence by these men that this woman be available for interaction with men, on their terms. So the only response is to ignore all of them, because you have no idea if this is the “nice” guy that turns out to be hyper-aggressive once he’s given the opening. Now imagine that a huge proportion of men you meet on the street are all trying with varying levels of aggressiveness to talk to you, demanding a piece of your time. And for the people wondering what the effect would be with an unattractive woman: you have missed the point **spectacularly**. ---
**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, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/49 "2014-10-29T22:48:28Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > So the only response is to ignore all of them, That’s a fair enough response to being interacted with by an unknown-to-you passerby. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/50 "2014-10-29T22:52:07Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > That’s a fair enough response to being interacted with by an unknown-to-you passerby. True enough. Why do I owe a stranger anything? And as a large male, I have luxury of being able to ignore just about anyone I don’t know trying to interact with me and whom I don’t want to without being yelled at as “rude”. ---
**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, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/51 "2014-10-29T23:00:04Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Here’s my question for the “they’re just paying a compliment!” people: How many random, male, unknown-to-you passersby (i.e. not a cashier) do you pay a compliment on their looks or wish a nice evening in a random day? I’m a tall, broad-shouldered male with a brisk walking pace, and my lifetime number is in the high teens, I’d bet. I don’t typically compliment anyone unknown to me on their looks, but if I make eye contact with a passerby, male or female, I will typically nod and say “Morning!” or “Hey,” or some other brief set of syllables to acknowledge the humanity we share. > [@](#): > > There is still an insistence by these men that this woman be available for interaction with men, on their terms. No, that’s untrue. A man who offers a verbal greeting and is ignored, and then ends the encounter, has not insisted on anything. Our general social contract permits a brief verbal greeting without the implication that any additional “interaction,” is needed. Of course, the video also has examples of men who do precisely as you describe. I contest the inference that ALL of the encounters are like that, though. > [@](#): > > So the only response is to ignore all of them, because you have no idea if this is the “nice” guy that turns out to be hyper-aggressive once he’s given the opening. Sure, she’s perfectly entitled to ignore them. ---
**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, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/52 "2014-10-29T23:01:33Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > True enough. Why do I owe a stranger anything? And as a large male, I have luxury of being able to ignore just about anyone I don’t know trying to interact with me and whom I don’t want to without being yelled at as “rude”. Yes, and in the video, several encounters were ignored without anyone yelling “Rude,” weren’t they? ---
**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:** [October 29, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/53 "2014-10-29T23:01:42Z")
I have a lot of thoughts about this but I don’t wish to feed the troll’s OP. ---
**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, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/54 "2014-10-29T23:02:57Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, and in the video, several encounters were ignored without anyone yelling “Rude,” weren’t they? The OP is calling her rude for ignoring the catcallers. ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/55 "2014-10-29T23:04:09Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I have a lot of thoughts about this but I don’t wish to feed the troll’s OP. The OP poisoned the well, yes. But surely the underlying issues can be discussed without needing to draw water from that well? ---
**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, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/56 "2014-10-29T23:05:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The OP is calling her rude for ignoring the catcallers. Well, of course I should have made explicitly clear that the OP’s take on the situation is nonsense. She is neither rude nor polite – she owes no one any interaction whatsoever. She’s just going about her business and isn’t being rude to ignore anyone she doesn’t know. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/57 "2014-10-29T23:07:22Z")
What I would hope is that someone start a fresh thread and this one be abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/58 "2014-10-29T23:08:49Z")
For years now I’ve always felt kind of bad for attractive women walking down the street, especially in summer. They get no peace whatsoever. I’m glad to see this video and the feature on the daily show bringing this to the forefront. It really does need to be corrected. Especially since I’ve NEVER heard of a guy hooking up with a woman from originally catcalling her in the street. In reality, guys do that mostly to impress other guys. They wanna show each other how much they like the ladies ---
**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, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/59 "2014-10-29T23:10:28Z")
> [@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. > > 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. Each individual is not harrassing her, yet she would feel harrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930/60 "2014-10-29T23:18:12Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Each individual is not harrassing her, yet she would feel harrassed. It’s like a bunch of telemarketing calls all in a row, except in person. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoshana-roberts-a-street-walker-10-hours-films-herself-being-harassed/702930.md?page=4)