Hey, Shorty! on the Road

Colorlines’ Akiba Solomon interviewed Hey, Shorty! co-author Joanne Smith and Girls for Gender Equity community organizer Nefertiti Martin on how to define positive sexuality for today’s youth. You can read the article here.

A new Jezebel article on street harassment features Hey, Shorty! co-author Joanne Smith breaking down ways men can interact with women on the street without being a threat. Check it out here.

Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School is a newly released report from the American Association of University Women that presents the most comprehensive, nationwide research to date on sexual harassment in grades 7-12. It reveals sobering statistics about the prevalence of sexual harassment and the negative impact it has on students’ education and concludes with concrete recommendations and promising practices for preventing sexual harassment directed at school administrators, educators, parents, students and community members.

Girls for Gender Equity is recognized as one of the promising practices in Crossing the Line, and Hey, Shorty! is lauded as a resource. You can download a free PDF of Crossing the Line here.

Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) founder and executive director, Joanne N. Smith, was a featured panelist at the Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later conference at Hunter College in New York City. The panel was moderated by Pat Mitchell, President & CEO of The Paley Center for Media, and Joanne spoke alongside several other activists and scholars, including Melissa Harris-Perry, Rha Goddess, and Ai-Jen Poo. Smith talked about the impact Anita Hill’s testimony had on her as a young, first generation Haitian-American woman and explained how Hill’s legacy is carried on in the work of GGE’s youth organizers in the public schools today. Video footage of the entire discussion is available from C-SPAN, and a number of highlights from the panel can be found at GGE’s Twitter page.

One of the most exciting things about being a street harassment activist is the look on peoples’ faces as they figure out what on earth I’m talking about. Many of my friends have never heard the term ‘street harassment’, or consider it some sort of overblown synonym for catcalling, but when I start to describe the behaviors and attitudes it encompasses, their expressions transform from skepticism to understanding. Suddenly, the stories start pouring out, and I know I’ve helped them see that this all-too-common experience is an actual problem – which means that they then become a part of the solution.

Public sexual harassment and gender-based violence, though constant and pervasive, are largely invisible problems. The activists who spoke at September 26th’s Hey, Shorty! book event in Washington, D.C. at the Busboys and Poets restaurant and gathering space know that overcoming this invisibility is a critical first step in their work. Hearing their stories of broaching conversation with girls and boys in public schools, LGBTQ youth, D.C.’s transgendered population, and D.C.’s sex workers was eye-opening, especially in light of the incredible weight these issues carry. The potential for activists to raise awareness and teach acceptance in their communities is an important part of preventing tragedies, like the recent rash of violence against trans people that has happened in D.C.. Mandy Van Deven’s experience developing a curriculum about gender respect at Girls for Gender Equity stood out as an example of innovation in the face of huge challenges. How do you un-teach the traditional perceptions of gender and power that lead to public sexual harassment? How do you help young people un-learn what they have been socialized to know their entire lives? And, most importantly, how do you then empower them to fight back?

With the exciting and rewarding aspects of activism come the inevitable disappointments. In my experience, the idea that gender-based harassment and violence is somehow the responsibility of the victim is deeply prevalent even among otherwise well-meaning people. For instance, while representing Holla Back DC on a local radio show, I was asked twice by the genuinely concerned hosts whether I thought it would be an acceptable compromise on the way to ending street harassment if women would just stop dressing sexy on the street. The fact is, of course, that everyone has every right to wear whatever they want to wear without being harassed and intimidated. As Holly Kearl, the author of Stop Street Harassment, pointed out at the event, studies show that clothing has absolutely nothing to do with it. Women wearing sweat pants are harassed. Women wearing burkas are harassed. LGBTQ people are harassed for not fitting traditional gender norms.

When a woman who identified herself as a social worker asked the speakers whether transgender women should cover themselves up and stop “dressing so trashy” to avoid harassment, I wasn’t surprised. The speakers’ answers, however, were inspiring. Mandy explained that “trashy” and “classy” are socialized categories that reflect class-based values and highlighted the complex intersectionality of sexual harassment with other forms of bias. This kind of thinking, she explained, is counter-progressive. If the goal of our activism is to create a society where people are free to express their identities, Holly said, then we can’t judge those who already do. Vanessa Crowley from the D.C. Trans Coalition said that simply being transgendered is a display of “radical authenticity” that bravely flies in the face of gender norms, for which trans people are punished everyday. Instead of suppressing self-expression that challenges cultural perceptions of decency, we should interrogate where these perceptions come from and ask why we believe in them. I’m proud to be part of a group of activists that pushes our communities to do just that.

By Zosia Sztykowski, Community Outreach and Events Director at Holla Back DC

Pictured in photo: Holly Kearl, Stop Street Harassment; Vanessa Crowley, DCTC; Mandy Van Deven, Hey, Shorty!; Andrew Barnett, SMYAL; Catherine Paquette, HIPS

I was humbled to be asked by the Barnard Center for Research on Women to share the work I have done with Girls for Gender Equity and Hey, Shorty! as a part of the “Writing, New Media, and Feminist Activism” panel at their 40th anniversary event, Activism and the Academy: Celebrating 40 Years of Feminist Scholarship and Action. Many of us struggle with our understandings of the interplay among theories and activisms. In particular, we struggle with perceptions of them as being distinct from one another and the value each is assigned, culturally and within social justice movements. There are precious few spaces where the false division of scholarship and organizing is identified and examined, and this weekend’s event provided an exemplary moment of collision. It has been, and continues to be, a privilege to participate in such groundbreaking work.

Below are a few reflections from the high school students who attended the conference as a part of their Fierce and Fabulous: Feminist Women Writers, Artists, and Activists class, which is taught by of one of my co-panelists, Ileana Jiménez, a social justice educator and feminist activist. Their presence and participation in the conference was inspiring, and I was excited to read what they had to say.

Barnard Feminist Conference Encourages Unity
Is There Enough Awareness About Feminism?
Feminist Bloggers Take Action

By Mandy Van Deven

Located in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, Left Bank Books is a 38-year-old radical institution of learning and agitation, so I was overjoyed when they agreed to host a stop on the Hey, Shorty! book tour. The event drew a crowd of folks who came to learn more about gender-based violence in public spaces, gain tools with which to write curricula for youth programs, and share their own expertise in transformative justice strategies. One woman who attended was a part of the organization Home Alive, which I read about some ten years ago in a book by feminist author Inga Muscio and from which I found inspiration as a budding activist. Hearing about the successes and struggles of anti-violence work in Seattle, and how they are similar yet different from those in New York City, enriched the conversation and made the subject matter more meaningful for the attendees. The Pacific Northwest has a long history of radical social justice activism — from the labor movement to the WTO protests in the fall of 1999 — and that spirit is still very much alive in its cities.

By Mandy Van Deven

Last night’s crowd at In Other Words, Portland’s feminist bookstore and community center, was small and intimate. Many thanks to all who attended, especially the cutie pie who loudly and proudly sang her ABCs when the amount of attention she received wasn’t sufficient (way to advocate for yourself, girl!) and the two women from Seattle who suggested seeing the vaux swift roost in the chimney of a local elementary school on the migration to Guatemala! Who knew Portland had such interesting entertainment?

By Mandy Van Deven

“It is truly important to acknowledge that the problem does not lie within the individual being harassed, the problem lies within the external forces that perpetuate and enable sexual harassment to exist in a place like school, where all are supposed to feel safe.” (Hey, Shorty! p. 110)

The above quote comes from Girls for Gender Equity’s (GGE) recent book Hey, Shorty!: A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets. On August 10th, GGE representative Nefertiti Martin came to Teachers Unite’s summer Restorative Justice Reading Group. Teachers, social workers, and community organizers gathered after having read an excerpt of the book and were prepared to learn about GGE’s work and discuss the issue of sexual harassment in schools.

Girls for Gender Equity, a member of the Dignity in Schools Campaign – New York, works in a variety of capacities to educate about the ways that sexual harassment manifests itself and how to address it. GGE is the lead organizer of the Coalition for Gender Equity in Schools (CGES), an intergenerational coalitions of students, teachers, parents, and other school community members who are concerned with ending sexual harassment in schools. GGE representative Nefertiti Martin began by addressing just what the opening quote implies: sexual harassment has become normalized behavior in our society because men and women are socialized to act in a certain way towards each other. GGE empowers young people to recognize these incidents that we accept as the norm and speak out against them.

GGE also works on a more political level, specifically with their Title IX campaign. Title IX of the Education Amendment outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex in U.S. public schools and requires schools to appoint a Title IX coordinator to handle complaints. GGE called over one hundred schools to simply inquire about this position and most did not have a Title IX coordinator, demonstrating the complete lack of accountability. However, GGE is working toward the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) implementing recommendations such as listing Title IX coordinators on school websites and including GGE’s PSA on the DOE website.

GGE sees sexual harassment as a safety issue, and for this reason it is an urgent matter. They address sexual harassment, as it exists on the broad spectrum of gender based violence, which includes but is not limited to offensive comments, unwanted touches, and rape. GGE also treats LGBT bullying as a form of sexual harassment.

The idea of personal comfort level opened the group conversation around how educators can address the issue of sexual harassment in schools. A lot depends on perspective, the group agreed; something that makes one person uncomfortable may be perfectly acceptable to another. However, in schools, we need to draw the line somewhere. From a restorative justice angle, all perspectives are valued and respected. Therefore, anything that makes anyone feel uncomfortable could be considered unacceptable. It is important for students to learn the rules and standards of their own school community, and recognize that other spaces have different rules.

Ultimately, the discussion concluded with the idea that what we’re really talking about is a shift in school culture. Creating a sense of community accountability is a task that’s rooted in mutual respect. Oftentimes, however, schools fail to really break down what respect means—including both respect of the self and others. Communication is the key here. If schools are going to address issues of sexual harassment and set down ground rules, discussion needs to take place so that all parties are heard and there is understanding as to why these rules need to exist.

By Emily Shaw
(Reposted with permission from National Economic and Social Rights Initiative)

Emily Shaw is an intern with the Dignity in Schools Campaign — New York