[link] The Daily Mail claims that “we” secretly love street harassment

I can’t believe that they got away with printing this. It perpetuates rape culture (rape is a compliment, don’t you know), everything about the objectification of women that feminists have been trying for years to fight, and the notion that women are nothing but silly little creatures who are more than happy to accept humiliation for some vague validation of their body image.

The Daily Mail is wrong on all counts.

By the way, the excerpt below is from stopstreetharassment.org and their commentary on the Daily Mail piece and not the piece itself. The less linking to the Daily Mail the better, in my opinion.

Oh geez.

XLS-Medical Fat Binder conducted a study with an unknown quantity of dieters whom they found through an unknown way and they concluded that:

“More than half would like to be on the receiving end of a wolf whistle and 28% regard this as one of the biggest motivators to weight loss.”

Overall, the study found that people are more motivated to stick to their diet if they themselves notice their weight loss and if other people notice it too and pay them a compliment.[link] The Daily Mail claims that “we” secretly love street harassement

I’m all for being healthier and for genuine, appropriate and wanted compliments, and I get how positive feedback can help someone stay motivated as they work to achieve a difficult goal.

But I’m NOT for encouraging men to vocally sexually objectify women on the streets and I’m very against the Daily Mail writing this in an article about the study:

“We may tut and scowl and whisper obscenities under our breath when men wolf-whistle in our direction – but secretly we love it.”

No, “we” don’t. The vast majority of us are annoyed, angered, and upset by it, especially if we’re lesbians, rape survivors, or people who are harassed on a regular basis. Don’t perpetuate tired old lies! And don’t contribute to rape culture.

[Read the rest: stopstreetharassment]

Related:

• [link] Stalking isn’t romance. It’s violence. (feimineach.com)
• [link] Sites like Uni Lad only act to support our everyday rape culture (feimineach.com)
• Precisely why the Daily Mail is irredeemable shit (boingboing.net)
• Dismantling Rape Culture (thecrimson.com)