Showing the insults and violent apostrophes pronounced in the street, sometimes to the attention of very young women, is the goal of these American activists. An initiative to trigger discussions on street harassment.
Documenting what is happening, so as not to sound like storytellers when they tell: this is the goal of activists who write insults with chalk on the sidewalks of several cities in the United States. These violent words, sometimes grossophobic or racist in nature in addition to being misogynistic, are not just any: they are street stalkers. “Keep walking, bitch”, “Show me what you can do with your hands”, “I’m going to fuck you”, “Hey, Chinese girl!”, “You have cellulite anyway”… Sophie Sandberg, activist and artist behind the idea of the Catcalls of NYC collective (street harassment in New York) explains that it is important for her to see these sentences written in public space, because it makes the experience collective. So everyone can see what is going on, no one can ignore this reality.
Sophie Sandberg says that she grew up in New York and was confronted with the phenomenon at a very young age. As a teenager, when she talks about it around her, no one really knows what to answer or advise her. The young girl is also revolted by certain reactions, such as that of her father, who suggests that she cover herself up more, or even of a man offering her as a solution not to go out late or to avoid certain neighborhoods. Yet even with these “recommendations” the harassment continues. Sophie Sandberg then decides to find a way so that women can share what they are going through, and that everyone can discuss it in the public space. She imagines then to chalk, in the street and often in the place where the harassment occurred, the sexist words.
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“I was educated to move on”
The activist puts forward the fact that to tolerate street harassment is to tolerate that men objectify women’s bodies. This logic can lead to assaults and rapes: if a woman’s body can be commented on and touched without anyone finding fault with it, it can logically be possessed without a deal. One of the participants in these chalk inscription sessions testifies: “I feel like I’ve been educated to move on or not to think about it when it happens”. While it is neither normal nor healthy to be used to being insulted or sexualized all the time. It has even been proven: street harassment has serious consequences for the victims.
The project has spread throughout the United States and is reminiscent of that of gluers in France. These groups of women, LGBTQI + and / or racialized people who frequently experience street harassment are reclaiming space in a simple and ubiquitous way. Tempted to import this type of message into France? All you need is a few chalk and a little time to bring this idea to your scale!