Street harassment walked into
the media spotlight recently after the release of the video 10
Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman.
Street harassment is a primary example of women’s spaces being violated by the
male space. The lack of boundaries both physically and philosophically between
men and women creates space for intimidation and dominance often exerted as
male-on-female. Street harassment has been shrugged off by some as
hypersensitivity but it represents the depth and permeation of patriarchy that
prevents women from feeling safe and existing in an autonomous space. The
tyrannical control over women’s spaces is multifaceted. Women are not
reasonably represented in positions of power -100 in Congress, while
encouraging, is still not equal- and should not expect the male life
experience. The male life experiences postulates that street harassment is a
form of flattery. This attitude escalates and perpetuates such myths as ‘politeness
from a stranger is consent to have sex’ or that ‘a miniskirt justifies rape.’
The contemporary woman is forced to negotiate between these two mentalities and
to repeatedly ask herself: I’m being told to stop complaining because of how
good I have it and yet I’m faced with sexism every day that tells me I need to
continue to fight for equal treatment. How should I proceed? The female
experience can be defined though liminality. Women live in the same physical
space as the dominant culture but do not live in the same societal space. Women
exist in a liminal space – liminal coming from the word ‘threshold’ in Latin, līmen- meaning they are existent but not
present, exposed yet overlooked, neither here nor there. Living in a liminal space leads to
isolation. The space becomes smothering and convinces its inhabitant that she
alone exists in the invisibility. The dissociation from the dominant culture
occurs as a result of being societally degraded. Women are further distanced
when repeatedly told that their value lies in the body; our only purpose, we’re
told, is to provide sexual pleasure for men. This superficial interpretation of
women’s value carries deep and damaging meaning. Extending that interpretation
reveals that when women are told to be thinner or smaller they are being told
to take up less space, to
have quieter voices, to
hold less power, and to
have less control. This meaning manifests in self-isolation and arguably appears
in the form of depression, which women present with a staggeringly higher
prevalence than men. This
interpretation highlights importance of intersectional feminism. The modern
feminist must raise awareness surrounding gender discrimination as well as all
other forms of oppression. The
layers of privilege between persons put psychological space between them. This
allows the dominant culture to dehumanize the Other, which creates acceptance
of violence. Each layer of privilege adds another wall and creates additional
space between individuals. The more
dehumanized or objectified a population is considered by the dominant culture,
the higher the acceptance of violence is toward that population. How else could
it be that one in three women on the planet are raped or beaten in their
lifetime, but the Earth’s population continues to exist unperturbed? The only
established remedy is exposure in the form of knowledge and experience. When a
person comes to understand another person’s perspective, the layers of space
and privilege between them fall away. They are able to enter the liminal
existence of another person. The challenge of the modern-day feminist is to
inform the dominant culture about the isolated space in which many women exist,
and provide education to help others understand the liminal existence. By
removing the layers between the space of the dominant culture and exposing the female
experience, global perspectives are formed. A decrease in violence should follow, but for
now a walk to the subway without catcalls would make my day.
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