Street Harassment Quotes

“Most women are all too familiar with men like Calvin Smith. Men whose sense of prerogative renders them deaf when women say, "No thanks," "Not interested," or even "Fuck off, creep.”
― Jon Krakauer, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

“Self respect by definition is a confidence and pride in knowing that your behaviour is both honorable and dignified. When you harass or vilify someone, you not only disrespect them, but yourself also.
Street harassment, sexual violence, sexual harassment, gender-based violence and racism, are all acts committed by a person who in fact has no self respect.
-Respect yourself by respecting others.”
― Miya Yamanouchi , Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women

“Women incorporate the values of the male sexual objectifiers within themselves. Catharine MacKinnon calls this being "thingified" in the head (MacKinnon, 1989). They learn to treat their own bodies as objects separate from themselves. Bartky explains how this works: the wolf whistle sexually objectifies a woman from without with the result that, ``"The body which only a moment before I inhabited with such ease now floods my consciousness. I have been made into an object'' (Bartky, 1990, p. 27). She explains that it is not sufficient for a man simply to look at the woman secretly, he must make her aware of his looking with the whistle.

She must, "be made to know that I am a 'nice piece of ass': I must be made to see myself as they see me'' (p. 27). The effect of such male policing behaviour is that, "Subject to the evaluating eye of the male connoisseur, women learn to evaluate themselves first and best'" (Bartky, 1990, p. 28).

Women thus become alienated from their own bodies.”
― Sheila Jeffreys, Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West

“Self respect by definition is a confidence and pride in feeling that you are behaving in an honorable and dignified manner. -Respect yourself by respecting others.”
― Miya Yamanouchi, Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women

“Practically, speaking up against street harassment is not about being a hero, getting credit points to be in the good books of a girl or a chance to impress anyone. It is about making sure that everyone has the right to enjoy that spring breeze, golden clouds and chirping without feeling uncomfortable.”
― Shahla Khan, Friends With Benefits: Rethinking Friendship, Dating & Violence

“When asked about the survey, Buenos Aires's mayor, Mauricio Macri, dismissed it as inaccurate and proceeded to explain why women couldn't possibly have a problem with being shouted at by strangers. "All women like to be told compliments," he said. "Those who say they're offended are lying. Even though you'll say something rude, like 'What a cute ass you have'...it's all good. There is nothing more beautiful than the beauty of women, right? It's almost the reason that men breathe." To be clear, this is the mayor. Upon reading this quote, I investigated, and can confirm that at the time of this interview he was not wearing one of those helmets that holds beers and has straws that go into your mouth.”
― Aziz Ansari, Modern Romance

“Self respect by definition is a confidence and pride in knowing that your behaviour is both honorable and dignified. -Respect yourself by respecting others.”
― Miya Yamanouchi, Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women

“His comments are not compliments, or even propositions.
They are declarations of ownership. They are threats.
They are the intrusive thumb of male privilege and patriarchal violence, reminding me of my place as I move around within public space.

They are the put-down, the screw-you, the worthless-slur, the great derision that is a constant, omnipresent reminder that society allows male sexual violence to function commonly as a social norm.

It is the constant reminder that I should always be scared.

That I am never safe.

That someone always wants to hurt me, and that society will always, always turn its face the other way, as seen by the normalcy with which men can publicly deride me with confidence and gusto in their threats.”
― Alice Minium

“I see stunning men walking on the street everyday. Some walk shirtless because it's hot and they feel more comfortable that way. Do I scream out at them, beep at them or whistle? No, I smile to myself in appreciation of them and drive on by. Why? Because I believe they have the right to go about their lives without me imposing my sexual desire upon them.”
― Miya Yamanouchi , Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women

“Deconstructed, I find its bits and pieces everywhere around me in the architecture of my social world.

I find components of its violence in the sexism of your comments.

I find it in the way you touch me without asking.

I find it in the way you call that girl a whore.

I find its bits and pieces of violence, the building blocks of sexual assault, in the psyches and vocabularies of my boyfriend, my professors, and my friends.”
― Alice Minium

“Deconstructed, I find its bits and pieces everywhere around me in the architecture of my social world.

I find components of its violence in the sexism of your comments. I find it in the way you touch me without asking. I find it in the way you call that girl a whore.

I find its bits and pieces of violence, the building blocks of sexual assault, in the psyches and vocabularies of my boyfriend, my professors, and my friends.”
― Alice Minium

“For it is the silent men, far more than the loud mouthy men on Warwick Boulevard, who make this possible. It is the silent men at 711, the silent men at the YMCA, the silent men next to us in cars, the silent men lying next to us in our bedrooms, the silent men we call our best friends, our boyfriends, and our fathers.

It is the silent men, not the loud ones- who permit foulmouthed men to chew me up and spit me out as I walk down the street.

It is the silent men who could have stopped this, but who didn’t care to, because they were busy.

It is the silent men who said 'Yes' to violence, and who, in their complicit silence, insisted that my world would be impenetrably loud.”
― Alice Minium

“I learned early how to smile and nod even when the situation was unpleasant for me. I didn’t know any alternative. I hadn’t been taught I could end an interaction if I didn’t like it; that it was okay to be impolite to people who were making me uncomfortable.”
― Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Stop Telling Women to Smile: Stories of Street Harassment and How We're Taking Back Our Power