Catcall: (n.) cat·call·ing. A loud, sexually suggestive call or comment directed at someone publicly (as on the street). The act of shouting harassing and often sexually suggestive, threatening, or derisive comments at someone publicly. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Sophie Sandberg is a senior at New York University and the force behind the Instagram account @catcallsofnyc. Since it was launched two years ago, @catcallsofnyc has galvanized over 171,000 women to share their experiences of street harassment and start a conversation. It works like this: @catcallsofnyc volunteers receive (via direct message) catcalling stories from women, then, they chalk these stories onto NYC sidewalks and post pictures of them, bringing women’s everyday experiences of street harassment to light. Drawing on the fire of the #MeToo movement, Sandberg and her team of 12 chalkers encourage individuals to understand the consequences of street harassment and use social media as a strategy to promote their activism.
Street harassment – aka catcalling – is the practice of strangers (usually men) making unsolicited comments of a sexual nature to other people (usually women) in the street. Catcalling can range from a whispered compliment to shouting and jeering, outright insults or name-calling. Street harassment – especially those statements that could be passed as flattery – “Hey beautiful” – is often portrayed as “harmless” fun. Girls are told to not take it seriously, or to see it as a compliment. Sandberg and her team want to put
Catcalling, as Sandberg says, “may be the most underrated problem out there. These comments affect daily lives of women in so many ways.” Catcalling may make women feel the need to dress differently, take different routes, stop going out at night, and overall, limit a woman’s access to public space. Sandberg wants to empower women to speak back to street harassment.
Sandberg’s impetus to launch @catcallsofnyc springs from her commitment to issues of consent and sexual assault on campus. Her thesis on street art focuses on gender and racial based violence. According to Sandberg, street harassment is not talked about as much as other feminist issues but needs to be.
Ironically, Sandberg’s project to call out street harassers has made her the victim of online harassment from both men and women. Despite this negative attention, Sandberg continues to utilize her knowledge of the subject matter to do something about this issue that happens every day in our streets. White Wall Review connected with Sophie Sandberg to find out more about @catcallsofnyc’s vision and future.
WWR: What inspired you to start @catcallsofnyc?
Sophie Sandberg (SS): I was inspired to start the page because I grew up in NYC and started experiencing catcalling at age 15. I was so frustrated that there was no way to respond to these comments – in the moment I always felt too afraid to respond. When I told friends and family about my experiences, they basically said to ignore it, or dress down to avoid attracting attention (this obviously didn’t work). I started the page to show people the scope of the issue – how much it was happening, and the severe impact that these words have.
What do you think people should understand about catcalling?
These words have an impact. Never say “it’s just words” or “it’s no big deal” to someone who has experienced street harassment. Even a comment like “beautiful” or “sexy” can make someone feel horrible and uncomfortable in a public space. It may be hard to understand for those who haven’t experienced harassment, so it’s important to listen and trust the person who’s facing it and not question or belittle their experience.
Do you think this will help catcallers understand the impact of their actions?
I’ve had men message me saying something like, “I used to make certain comments and now I realize that they may be inappropriate” or I’ve had men ask, “where is the line between a catcall and a compliment.” I really want my account to be a space for learning. Obviously, I think catcalling is disgusting but if men are willing to learn and change their behaviour, that’s a huge step in the right direction. It’s important to realize that some men can change if we give them the tools and information. That’s one goal of the account: making the streets safer for all of us by engaging people who don’t experience harassment so that they can change their behaviour and become active bystanders.
Is there any story of catcalling that sticks out the most?
So many of these comments are directed towards young girls – teens and preteens. I’ve gotten submissions like “call me when you’re legal” or “I’d go to jail for fucking you” or “age is just a number” or “how 14 are you?” etc. This shows that catcallers target young girls which is disgusting. In my opinion, they’re targeting vulnerable girls because they know they’re vulnerable and it makes the cat-caller feel more powerful.
You have faced harassment based on your account and the issues you are trying to draw attention to. How has this affected you?
When people do work to make a change, there’s almost always pushback. Specifically, those working on the topic of gender-based harassment get a lot of threats and harassment for the work they do. When I worked as an intern with Hollaback! – a global nonprofit against harassment in public space – part of the onboarding process was for me to make sure my address was taken off the internet because they had received threats in the past. My account has been the same – there have been many angry people who claim that street harassment is freedom of speech and that we’re making a big deal about nothing. These people are really angry, which can be scary. For months, one person has targeted me and harassed me on my personal account. He even made @catcallsof(..) accounts pretending to be part of the movement. And last week he threatened to come to an event I was having. This harassment is not only scary – it has tangible impacts on my ability to do this work. I had to file a police report and change the time of my event because it was hard to know if he would actually come.
Do you think all catcalling is the same? Or are there degrees of it?
There are degrees of street harassment. Someone saying, “good morning sexy” has a different impact than someone saying, “I want to f*ck you.” Verbal harassment is different from physical harassment or following. However, the fear of women and folks in the LBGTQ+ community face simply walking down the street is a result of this behaviour at large. There are degrees of harassment but the result and the feelings it evokes are similar I believe.
As a society, are we are treating cat callers differently today than, say 20 years ago?
On one hand, the #MeToo movement has made society confront sexual and gender-based harassment, especially in the workplace. However, I think that street harassment is still something that is overlooked and belittled. I don’t think there is enough awareness or bystander intervention yet to say that we’re treating catcallers differently today than 20 years ago.
The Catcalls of NYC page has viewers/followers as young as 10 years old. This is so unsettling. What advice would you give these young women who are experiencing catcalling for the first time?
The most important point I make to young girls who message me with their stories of harassment is that it’s never their fault. I remember when I was first catcalled and I came home to tell my parents, my dad told me that I should dress differently to avoid unwanted attention. Many girls who message me are already taught that somehow, they should be ashamed of the attention they’re getting because somehow, it’s their fault. I always make sure to tell young women that it is NEVER their fault. It is always the fault of the harasser.
Some women say that they don’t mind receiving compliments from strangers on the street. What distinguishes street harassment from a compliment?
I always say that the only person who gets to decide what is a compliment and what is harassment is the person the comment is being said to. A compliment makes you feel good about yourself. Harassment makes you feel horrible. The words themselves may seem like compliments, i.e. “you’re beautiful,” but the way they are said, or the context of the situation may make them feel like harassment.
From your experience hearing hundreds of women’s stories, is there a “best” way to deal with cat-calling as it is happening?
Responding is always a Catch-22 for that very reason. If you don’t respond, it feels that they’ve succeeded in making you an object. If you do respond, so many times it can escalate the situation (i.e. to more verbal harassment or even physical harassment). That’s why I encourage people to always share their stories after the fact. Even if you feel your voice was taken away at that moment, you can respond by speaking up about what happened. For me, going back to the locations with these stories is a way of responding that gives me and the victims of harassment agency. That being said, when people ask for the “best” way to deal with catcalling, I always tell them to do what feels comfortable and safe.