Can I Have Yo Numba?

Here’s the thing. Despite your valiant effort to grab my attention by violently raising your eyebrows, rapid tongue movement, or a more discrete “Psssssssst Mami!” I'm not going to sleep with you. Or maybe you’re really bold. You know what you like. So you’ll tell me that, loudly, for everyone on the street to hear. Perhaps you’ll reference exactly which of my body parts you’ve found most compelling today and what you’re dying to do to them. Don’t act surprised when I still won’t follow you off of the street, tell you to pull over so I can get into your car for a joy ride, or give you a minute of my time let alone my number. Because no matter how fly you think I am the bottom line is that catcalls kill the sex drives of everyone except the dog who’s hounding.

A study (Bystander sexism in the inter-group context) was done at the University of Connecticut by researchers Stephanie Chaudoir and Diane Quinn earlier this year. Analyses indicated that all parties in the vicinity of sexual harassment (i.e. that other guy minding his business walking down 14th street, or the old lady knitting across from you on the 6) are affected in a big way by aggressive sexual advances. "I always feel so bad for the girls," said Tyler Raps, a 20 year old NYU student,"I live in Crown Heights so I see it a lot. It's revolting." Not only are catcalls destroying the day of the sexy mama they are ineffectively aimed at, but everyone else’s too.

The study found that a woman overtly courted on the streets is more likely to assume that all men they meet in public places are predators. In effect, that little comment about wanting to bite my ass could ruin Mr. Nice Guy’s shot at encountering true romance in any public domain, and make me all the more likely to pick up a key chain sized bottle of mace. "I don't like catching men's eyes when I'm walking down the street," says 22 year old Newschool student Charlotte Brody, "sometimes they have this look. It's this glint of hunger that's both extremely frightening and incredibly repulsive." Chaudoir and Quinn also reported that "42% of U.S. female college students... are direct targets of catcalls at least once a month."

Oh wait, we are those...

Barie-Claire

"The Snowflake"

Typical Catcalls:
"Damn that's a nice ass... Shake it baby, shake it."
"You got a mans?" (in the off chance of a response)

"Your man ain't nothing, I can be your mans."

Often the victim of "the shadow" (a guy who just can't take a hint and has to follow his prey down the block propositioning them and complementing their shape)

Jane
"The Angel"

Typical Catcalls:
"Damn, did you hurt yourself when you fell from heaven? Cause you must be an ANGEL!"
"You so little, cupcake!"
"Oh the things I could do to you, whitey."

Laura

"The Mami"

Typical Catcalls:

"What are you, Mami?"

(in the off chance of a response)

"Naw, Italian girls ain't got booties like that! You're Spanish/Biracial/Latina!"

"Just as nice from the back as you are from the front!"

Then a curious turn... The implication of the blessing.

"God bless you today, Mami!" or "Jesus Christ, you have a blessed day!"

But what’s a girl to do when eye-rolling and laughing it off isn't cutting it? If she starts to really feel threatened by pornographic propositions, leering eyes, or old-fashioned horned up hollers?

The most P.C.way we’ve found to handle it: Hollaback. A blog entitled HollabackNYC, founded in 2005, is dedicated to one cause: “empowering New Yorkers to Holla Back.” The concept is a reactionary multi-media gallery of offensive sexual advances. Executive director, Emily May has addressed the issue as "street harassment."

The site asks that girls email pictures of their street harassers. They’ve got an archive of horror stories and blurry cell phone photos that range from an older man requesting for a girl to sit on his face at Washington Square Park to the really hard stuff like subway creep-os flashing their junk. The mission is to raise awareness and provide an outlet for those who feel they’ve been harassed to warn others.

They are a donation-based organization, actively seeking grants to become a non-profit, and currently creating their iPhone application and official organization site. They have only raised $4,060 of their $12,500 goal to fund the application by their target deadline of May 28th. In the five years that the site has been running, only a little over a thousand women have utilized their services. So while this sounds nice in theory and all, how effective could it be? When we contacted May, she was quick to note HollabackNYC's other endeavors, "Beyond the site, we worked with the MTA to get anti-harassment ads in the subways... and we are currently working with the state legislature to force the MTA to release crime stats."

While our hopes are high that internet-published snap shots and perv stories will embarrass every sick dude trying to take it too far on the streets, we’re not completely convinced. Streets and subways are public property but our bodies aren't.