I don’t remember the first time I was catcalled while walking down the street. I just know I was young and felt disgusted. I still do. But that disgust is now combined with fear. From being cursed out for refusing to acknowledge an older man’s advances to having a man tell my friend he would break her jaw after she ignored him, street harassment is a very scary, very real issue that needs to be addressed. Sadly, it’s oftentimes ignored and downright denied, especially by men.
A woman who goes by Feminista Jones on Twitter decided to do something about it. Around this time last year, the hashtag #YouOkSis was launched to bring awareness to street harassment that women face on the daily, especially women of color. In an interview with the Atlantic, she further discussed street harassment against Black women.
How #YouOKSis began: https://t.co/WZH7ncVP11
— ♈️🐏♈️Aries SZN ♈️🐏♈️ (@FeministaJones) July 6, 2015
Now it’s a year later and this hashtag is trending on Twitter again after a disturbing video of a young man who entered a women’s car was posted. The conversation regarding street harassment seems to be the same. Yet again, men are trying to deny its existence while women express their hatred of it. Here are some tweets that encapsulate the harassment women face on the daily.
https://twitter.com/0hBehave/status/618074462253002756
#youoksis
Folks ready to admit they're uncomfortable with Black women being the face of street harassment victims? pic.twitter.com/vURatVbcJ4— ♈️🐏♈️Aries SZN ♈️🐏♈️ (@FeministaJones) July 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/shakkomakko/status/617932985279451136
https://twitter.com/DeeRene_/status/617886125219282946
https://twitter.com/Valinciaa/status/617883349772730368
Having a 6'8 man follow you half way home from work by just casualing having an unwanted convo and having ppl around you stare #YouOKSis
— i’m baby (@uwantaqua) July 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/spokenELLE/status/617883675292774400
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