Image via Complex Original
No matter who you are, you probably feel some type a way about this harassment video. Since Hollaback dropped it on the Internet earlier this week, everyone's had something to say. Clearly, the video tells a story, but what type?
Was Shoshana Roberts—the actress who walked the streets of Manhattan for 10 hours straight—being catcalled, complimented, or just straight up harassed? Was it all three? Why does the video have an overwhelming number of shots filmed in Harlem, suggesting that men of color are the only men responsible for this kind of behavior? What neighborhoods did Ms. Roberts skip?
While producers have said any perceived racial bias in the video is unintentional, the fact remains that its lack of diversity serves to perpetuate a stereotype of black and Latino men as sexual predators. But what do the men in Harlem—specifically, on 125th Street, which featured prominently in the Hollaback video—think about all of this? We talked to a few of them about the video, race, and how to talk to women on the street. Check out their answers both in the portraits below, and the video above.
Lauretta Charlton is an Associate Editor at Complex. She's not a TiVo, so don't ask her to smile on demand. She tweets at @laurettaland.
Kevin, 35, Lower East Side
(Ed. Note: Before I was able to interview Kevin, we were interrupted by a man who looked about 40 years old. He wanted to share his thoughts on the situation. I've included his remarks below.)
"You’re a female, right? I’m a male. Certain ladies shouldn’t be wearing certain stuff. Was she being harassed or was she being complimented. Those are two different things. What was she doing? Why you say she’s being harassed? Certain girls be wearing, I don’t want to say it, but you dressed like a slut and somebody try to holler out you. What happens? Listen, I look good. There ain’t no gay shit about me. Sometimes I have a gay guy say, "you look good." It made me feel [makes face suggesting that he’s flattered], but I know I ain’t gay. If somebody gives you a compliment, take a compliment. Ain’t nobody harassing nobody."
Are Black and Latino Men more likely to catcall?
I think black and Latino men, we pull women that way, so to put it out there, we are fishing, so if there’s like 100 fish, we’ll probably say 100 things. It isn’t so much disrespect, but you never know where you’re going to strike gold, so you’re kind of like digging everywhere to see where you hit the gold mine or where you strike oil pretty much. Most of the time those guys are the nicest guys in that circle, who step out front, but the guys that yell, “You’re a bitch!” from afar or whatever, that’s the asshole in the group.
Was there racial bias in the video?
The butt smiled. Like, you didn’t even have to see her face. She could have been ugly and guys are still gonna scream from across the street.
If you actually put a black girl in a white neighborhood, the white guys would do the same thing. They’ll be like, "Oh my god, I’ve never seen a black girl as sexy as you," or whatever. They [Hollaback] just didn’t take it there. They didn’t use a black girl. If they would have used both sides of it then it would have been more of a comparison. They just, you know, like, put somebody in the hood, and, you know shit’s gonna happen. It’s a man thing. It’s not a white or black thing. It’s a man thing.
Is there a criteria for making it work?
The criteria of setting up that it works is hollering at as many ladies that you can. You never know who you’re gonna meet. If a guy sees something he likes, white or black, he’s gonna say "Hey."
Is it fair for women to have to deal with the constant barrage of catcalls?
No, it’s not fair, but it’s the nature of the beast. I just think it's the nature of the beast. Like, a guy’s gonna see a girl, his eyes are gonna get wide, he’s gonna poke out his chest, we gonna be a little bit more, you know, on the corner or whatever. And she had on, like, the black tight pants, and from the video you can see that she, you know, she was definitely shapely. So walking uptown with some tight jeans, it’s like, you’re asking for it. Not so much to say that it’s a bad thing, but "big butt and a smile." We’ve been rapping about this for years.
Did you notice she didn't smile or respond in any way in the video?
The butt smiled. Like, you didn’t even have to see her face. She could have been ugly and guys are still gonna scream from across the street.
What's the line between harassment and a compliment?
The line between harassment and a compliment is the approach. A simple "excuse me," if she doesn’t acknowledge your excuse me, I think that’s harassment, but if you say "excuse me" and she stops and you’re like, "You’re looking good today," I think that’s a compliment. Yelling across the street is definitely not a compliment.
Does catcalling work?
Catcalling works. It just works on the right type of woman. So you don’t know what type of woman you’re dealing with. But women also catcall as well. Like, if a guy is walking by in a tank top or whatever, the ladies stop and they might yell and he comes across the street. The difference is, the lady keeps walking.
Abdul, 22, Harlem
Why do you think men catcall women on the street?
That’s just something that I see everyday, like, especially in urban areas, guys, like, you know, it’s all being macho. I guess it’s part of being cool or something like that. Personally, I don’t do it because it’s rude. I was raised differently. I come from a different background than here so. It’s like, to me, it’s just, I don’t know, I see it everyday. I don’t really know why it happens. I don’t think it should happen. To me it’s rude and you’re definitely not going to get the attention of the ladies like that. But you know that’s what I see everyday. I really can’t explain why it’s like that. I just know that’s something’s that’s very common for a pretty lady to walk by and guys be like, “Aww damn. Oooh shit.” It be like that, but I don’t think that’s the way it should be. I guess it’s all culture, man, it’s how you were raised.
Like, I know my parents did the best to teach me to respect women, and to be courteous to women, be gentle to women, don’t push women a certain way. But I think it’s culture, man. It’s just how you were raised. If you were raised a certain way you’re gonna behave a certain way. It’s a behavioral pattern that I see a lot, you know, especially in my community. I don’t know. Is there a solution for it? I think if people were raised better they’ll do better. That’s all.
Are black and Latino men more likely to catcall than other men?
That’s who I see do it the most. I’m not a fan of stereotyping a certain group of people, but that’s who I see do it the most, unfortunately. Especially in my community. I’m from Harlem. You know it’s blacks and Latinos in my neighborhood, and I see the guys on my block do it all the time. People that I call my friend do it all the time. I can’t do it. It’s not in my DNA to do that. I just can’t do it. But, hey, people do it all the time. I have friends that do it, predominately black and Latino. I don’t want to stereotype anybody, but that’s who I see do it the most, to be honest with you.
Does catcalling work?
It never works. It never works. It literally never works. Actually, it’s kind of repulsive. It never works.
Do you think they're aware that it never works?
I think they’re aware that it never works. It’s like a running joke. I think they do it for fun. They have nothing to do, they sittin' on the block all day, so they see a pretty girl walk by, she catches everybody’s attention, obviously cause she’s pretty, so you know the guys feel like it’s good for them to do that. It’s a joke. They know it don’t work. A lot of these guys know it don’t work. It never works.
What's the difference between a compliment, harassment, and catcalling?
It’s all in the approach. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. It’s all in the approach. If you approach her in a polite manner, not just bumping into her walking by her for five minutes, it’s all in the approach. That’s how I see it. It’s not what you do it’s how you do it. It’s how you come across. If you come across like one of those guys that's just playing around, that’s on the block, that’s walking by her all day, it looks repulsive. It’s not a great thing to do. If I was a woman, I’m putting myself in a woman’s position, and somebody do that to me, I’d probably punch 'em. I don’t like somebody walking by me trying to talk to me like that. It’s all in the approach. It’s how you carrying yourself, how you present yourself, and you know, that’s how it go.
Jonathan, 23, South Bronx
Do you think black and Latino men are more likely to catcall?
Being that I’m from the South Bronx, it’s something I see all the time happening to women, but when I’m working around the city, I usually don’t see Caucasians hitting on women, which is something I find quite surprising. I don’t know why it happens that way. That’s just my observation.
Why do you think men catcall?
Usually when a woman walks around, she just wants to get from point A to point B. I really don’t see a positive outcome from a man. He thinks that he’s complimenting the woman, but probably 95 percent of the time that woman doesn’t consider it a compliment, she feels that she’s being harassed.
What's the best way for a man to approach a woman on the street?
The best way is to be a bit more subtle about it, not to say what they feel out loud for everyone else to hear. It makes the situation very awkward. The woman isn’t comfortable at all. There are better ways to go about it, talking a bit more privately, and if the woman wants space, you have to give her space, but if you’re interested, you should try to be more subtle about it.
Does catcalling work?
I’ve never seen it work, honestly. It depends on the woman sometimes, but most of the time I’ve never seen it work.
Do you think men who catcall are aware that it doesn't work?
I think they’re aware that it doesn’t work. Maybe they’re being influenced by the people surrounding them that do the same thing, they think that’s something that’s normal. Maybe they’re just doing it for entertainment. But it just never works.
What's the difference between a compliment and a catcall?
It depends on the tone that comes from the person. Yelling out loud to the person isn’t going to work. It’s not flattering at all. It’s just too awkward.
Kashief, 23, Harlem
Do you think black and Latino men are more likely to catcall?
I would say yes because it’s a trend in some of these neighborhoods. We grew up with other people telling us how to talk to other women, but aggressively like that. I consider that harassment. A lot of asshole men teach these young kids how to talk to women like that, and they see the older guys doing this so they follow what the older guys do and they look up to the older guys so it’s like a trend, like I said, in the neighborhood.
Does catcalling work?
No, only with women that don’t have self-respect in themselves. You know they’ll listen to anybody they’ll look somebody up and down, see if they have money and they’ll talk to them. I think catcalling works with certain women. Certain women that just look at somebody, up and down, they judge a book by its cover, and they think that somebody got money or they have something for them so they’ll talk to them.
What's the best way to approach a woman on the street?
It’s like at the right place at the right time moments. If you give somebody a compliment, and they actually say something back to you, I feel like it’s appropriate to have a conversation with them, really get to know their name, stuff like that. But If somebody is completely ignoring you, then I don’t think you should follow them down the block for five minutes. That something way different. That’s harassment. I think it’s okay to give compliments, I feel like there’s nothing wrong with giving compliments, but as far as if somebody’s ignoring you and you keep following them around or calling them out their name or anything like that or of that nature, I feel like that’s something totally different.
What's an acceptable way to approach a woman on the street?
If you say somebody look beautiful, or you compliment what they have on. Your outfit look nice. Have a wonderful day. Something like that. But as far as, "Yo, mami, you look good," that’s kind of corny. A compliment is you say a couple of words and let somebody go about their business. Harassment is when you following somebody and you can tell that they don’t want to speak to you and you’re still walking behind them and still harassing them, basically being annoying.
Marion Gavon, 54, Harlem
Why do you think she was catcalled so many times in the video I just showed you?
You must want attention coming outside looking like that. You want attention. You walking.
Unless you’re deaf, dumb, and blind, there’s no disrespect. But in Midtown it’s a different way. They’ll call the cops on you.
Why do you think most of the footage in the video was from Harlem and not midtown?
We speak to our ladies walking down, say hello, if they have kids, we say hello. They speak to us. Don’t anybody speak to anybody in midtown? Black or Latino? Ask them where you going, they ask you where you’re going? It’s just surviving.
Was this a compliment or harassment?
It’s a compliment. That’s our lingo. There’s nothing wrong. You’re a dime piece. Come on. Sometimes women speak to you. It makes no difference. Unless you’re deaf, dumb, and blind, there’s no disrespect. But in Midtown it’s a different way. They’ll call the cops on you.
