Shoshana Roberts 108 catcalls video, has been turned into a PSA by Hollaback! in order to stop women from being harassed in the streets of New York City.
For 10 hours, Shoshana Roberts strolled through the streets of New York City where she received over 108 catcalls. Roberts and her boyfriend Rob Bliss, took part in the social experiment in collaboration with Hollaback!
The Shoshana Roberts 108 catcalls video was transformed into a PSA, highlighting the impact of street harassment. For 10 long hours, Roberts walked silently through NYC as her boyfriend secretly filmed.
The NYC woman was harassed over 108 times. Some men called her names like “sweetie,” “baby” or “beautiful.” Others asked her, how was she doing? How was her day? Or, where was she going? Few asked her for her phone number.
A couple of disrespectful males commented on her physique. One man went as far as following her for more than five minutes in order to have a better view of her derriere and breasts. It is worth noting that Shoshana Roberts was sporting a plain t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a backpack.
Miss Roberts was appropriately dressed for the hot August day, the footage was filmed. One brave man walked next to the actress for several minutes and asked her to go out with him. When she failed to answer, he demanded to know, was it because he is ugly?
Few scolded her for not smiling. Others blasted her for not being responsive to their unwanted and unsolicited compliments. While filming, Roberts noted:
“I’m harassed when I smile and I’m harassed when I don’t. I’m harassed by white men, black men, Latino men. Not a day goes by when I don’t experience this.” –
Roberts went on to add:
“On a daily basis — this day included — feels awful. Some days I love talking with people and interacting, and I smile as I go down the street. Some days it brings up the sexual assault that occurred in my past.”
The Shoshana Roberts 108 catcalls PSA video is below.
welcome to america;land of the free;home of the brave,freedom of speech!!!
really!
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!
since when did saying hello become harassment?
Exactly. While every comment was not appropriate a whole bunch of them were an interaction between people. Hello, Good Morning, Etc Harassment?????????????? I am quite sure the boyfriend taping before he met her had to somehow introduce himself to her at first. What did he say? Was that harassment? I am not condoning the true catcalls and the following her for 5 minutes, because that is harassment. But we need to step back from this politically correct world and just relax!
SHE’S YOUR PEER!
How are you? How is your day going? May I get your phone number? how else do you meet a person to possibly date? That’s not harassment. If she got ignored on a daily basis, would she make a video crying about how no man looks at her? Following her and “hey baby” and “sweetie” is harassment. But if i’m walking down the street and see a beautiful woman, how else would I get to know her without offering my number (which she is free to discard or decline to take)? Project my thoughts mentally? That being said, is it harassment to her because she has a boyfriend?
Harassment?
I guess every person that has ever said hello to me, male or female, was sexually harassing me?
It’s appalling to think that all we should ever do is stare straight ahead and never acknowledge anyone that is ever around us because it may construed as sexual harassment.
An HR Manager once told me the difference between sexual harassment and friendliness is if the other person likes you or not. Not necessarily in a relational way…Maybe just a friend or something. Except for obvious sexual harassment such as blatant remarks or touching etc…I thought that was an interesting analogy.
I think this video is ludicrous. Some of the men were out of line, without a doubt. But those that were not following her and simply said hello or something are being thrown into the mix as being horrible wretched people when they not be.
Perhaps presuming judgment on someone before getting all the facts is still wrong?…Just asking
I am sorry, is this serious? From the video, I heard a lot of hello, how are you, etc. I thought that was being polite, when did being polite become sexual harassment? Not saying all the comments were good but the portion of the video I saw there wasn’t a lot of sexual harassment. If I was walking by, I would have said hello to and guess what, I am not interested in her sexually or wanting to date her.
It seems to be all men commenting on why is she so upset. You just don’t get it and never will. You’re men it not your fault.
Should I call it harassment when women ask me to open a jar or take out the trash then. She isn’t exactly dressing modestly in this video.
Since when did saying someone was beautiful become harassment? How bout you wear a hoodie and some sweatpants instead of tight jeans and a tight t-shirt? I bet her looks don’t bother her when she has an audition.
okay…..somebody walking along side of you for five minutes is weird, scary, stalker, crazy. but the other stuff……take it as a compliment and keep walking. on why radio they said she wasn’t at all dressed provocatively…..not that dressing that way gives someone the green light to check you out or comment….but she had on either leggings or very tight jeans and she has knockout curves……what did she expect? Shes in ethnic neighborhoods where guys loves curvy women. girl…..20 years from now when its all sagging and nobody notices you, you’ll probably welcome some attention so stop complaining about it. Its not like they were touching you…..oh but do something about those guys walking with you…..not cool!