An anti-street harassment video released by Hollaback! went viral last week.

Hollaback! is an organization that is present in a number of cities across America and works to end street harassment by educating individuals on prevention and serving as a resource for victims of street harassment. Hollaback’s primary initiative works to educate both victims and offenders on why street harassment is negative for both society as a whole and each individual who comes into contact with it. Hollaback has recently received a lot of attention from the media, both negative and positive, since of the release of its most recent video, which highlighting the commonality of street harassment in the life of the average woman and member of the LGBTQIA community.

Shoshana Roberts, an up-and-coming New York actress, joined Hollaback to create this video, which features her walking through the streets of Manhattan over a period of 10 hours. Throughout the duration of the video, Roberts remains silent and simply takes various routes throughout the city wearing jeans and a crew-neck t-shirt. As the video demonstrates, Roberts receives comment after comment in regards to her body and her sexuality from passersby. At one point in the video montage, a man follows her for roughly five minutes and makes rude comments while Roberts silently continues on her way.

While this video has primarily seen positive feedback from the media, there has been some controversy surrounding the racial discrimination presented in the video. People have spoken out against the video because “ most of the men shown on the final video are black, some Latino, and no one…was white”.

The reason for this obvious discrimination is likely due to the fact that most of the footage was taken through primarily black and latino dominated communities. Marianne Mollmann, a Huffington Post writer and New York City resident, points out that street harassment is present throughout all demographics and people groups and assures readers that harassment can be found in “NYC neighborhoods with predominantly white populations…[and] is frequent and loud”.

Thus, the lack of a white presence in the video is harmful because it reinforces an incorrect and damaging stereotype, and promotes a fear of non-white males. This not only affects women’s perception of non-white males in general and their daily interactions with them, but it also affects society’s overall perception and, more dramatically, the criminal system. Therefore, the importance of recognizing that street harassment is not limited to African American and Hispanic males and in fact includes males from all economical status and ethnic backgrounds is essential for today’s society when addressing important issues such as street harassment.

Despite the upsetting racial discrimination present in Hollaback video, the primary message is still clear and necessary: street harassment is exceedingly common and it is not okay.

As Hollaback points out on their campaign website, street harassment is about power and objectification. Men attempt to assert their dominance and feel powerful by harassing women and LGBTQUI members in the streets. A common mistake when it comes to considering the validity of the danger in cat calling is when both men and women view it as a compliment. But yelling at a woman “I want some of that” is the farthest thing from complimenting and appreciating her physical appearance. By whistling at a woman as she walks by, men are not attempting to express their respect for and admiration of a woman’s beauty, but are viewing this woman exclusively as a sexual object, designed for their pleasure.

Ultimately, this video is working to educate men and women alike on the harm found in street harassment in order to create a society that respects women and LGBT members equally. Street harassment is never okay, and we must be aware of its presence and effects in order to fight it.

If you are interested in learning more about street harrassment and Hollaback, please visit their website here: http://www.ihollaback.org/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/10/31/catcalling_what_hollaback_s_viral_video_reveals_about_white_men_and_street.html

http://www.msnbc.com/alex-witt/watch/hollaback–harassment-video-actress-speaks-up-350975043806

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-mollmann/we-are-all-as-blind-to-ra_b_6077580.html