Earlier this week Hollaback — an organisation which works to combat public harassment — made a video of a woman walking around in New York City in order to demonstrate the amount of verbal abuse taking place on the streets. Using a hidden camera and walking around for 10 hours, the organisation counted over 100 incidents of catcalling, whistling and inappropriate behaviours.
No ad to show here.
While this 2-minute video rallied up over 20 million views in just a few days, it doesn’t compare to the amount of controversy it led to all over the web and newsrooms. This included further harassment on both Twitter and YouTube, with Fox News anchors catcalling a catcalling victim live on air and internet users sending through death threats.
The backlash the initial video created is quite shocking. It even opened up a whole can of worms and racial controversy with the editor of the video’s producers being accused of editing out all white males in the video.
Here are some rather tame and thoughtful comments on Twitter:
also, catcalling never works so i don't understand why men do it. I'm on your side ladies. I am not a cis white male either. I am immune.
— M E M E gonzales (@FilthyFrank) October 31, 2014
#GamerGate is horrified by that catcalling video. They can't imagine speaking to a woman in real life.
— Devil Faraci (@devincf) October 29, 2014
While here are some opposing comments:
This stupid catcalling video bullshit is exactly why I wish Patrice was still here. @CheThinks makes a joke and is crucified.
— Thinker St. James (@thinkerstjames) October 31, 2014
This catcalling video thing is honestly super annoying and it's so overly dramatic. Being hit on and being harassed are two different things
— Tigernach (@tierneybilyou) October 31, 2014
It has also led to people creating their own parody videos demonstrating cultural stereotypes.
10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Man
Funny Or Die rarely disappoints. It recently released a video titled 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as white Man that shows a guy casually (but expressionless) strolling down the streets of New York, with strangers giving him high-fives, Starbucks gift cards and other compliments.
Girls catcalling guys
Good old BuzzFeed also released a video where it turned the tables. Instead of guys catcalling girls, it’s a parody of women catcalling men:
10 Hours Walking in Skyrim as a Woman in Skimpy Armor
Skyrim modder and video blogger Shinji72 recently uploaded a video titled 10 Hours Walking in Skyrim as a Woman in Skimpy Armor.
The video shows a woman video game character “with bouncy breasts” and “skimpy armour” walking around in the fantasy world of Skyrim. The short YouTube clip shows “verbal and physical abuse” from “NPCs to creatures of all sizes and races and levels.”
10 Hours of Walking in LA as a Drag Queen
Uploaded onto YouTube by Nada Original, the parody video films 10 Hours of Walking in LA as a Drag Queen.
Most of the public bystanders in the video doesn’t seem to know what’s really happening, with most comments and catcalling being extremely harsh.
We’re sure these few videos won’t be the end of it.
