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The following article appeared in the Around Town section of Time Out New York. Street hassle: The Street Harassment Project just says no to public sexist behavior by Joe Beaird April 2001 Ah, spring! Birds and bare midriffs return, and men resume one of their favorite pastimes: harassing women on the street. This season, though, coarse loudmouths may get their comeuppance -- the Street Harassment Project is fighting the catcalls and abuse that plague city women. "Young women were told their rights were won by the feminist movement," says [one member]. "But then they go out in the street and are hunted like prey." the Street Harassment Project (SHP) was launched in response to the groping and stripping assaults of more than 50 women at last summer's National Puerto Rican Day Parade. The mission of the group, whose members range from high schoolers to middle-aged women, is to make street harassment socially unacceptable. The plan is twofold: First, foster a culture of solidarity, so that anyone who sees a woman being verbally accosted will stop and offer assistance; second, try and change male consciousness, so that men themselves join the fight against sidewalk sexism. "Women need to feel that they are not isolated and alone," says [one member]. Last March, at a consciousness- (and hell-) raising rally in Bryant Park, the group deployed its main weapons -- education, solidarity and shame. Women handed out pink cards emblazoned with a curvy female silhouette and the slogan "Hey guys, wanna get laid?" Several men eagerly took the cards, only to furrow their brows when they read the instructions on the reverse: "Then stop harassing women!" Some men openly ridiculed the protesters, who declared that they didn't care whether you liked their asses and believed the streets belonged to everyone. "Hey, baby!" cooed one grungy biker speeding past on 42nd Street. Another guy, a gangly teenager, sneered, "I don't wanna hear it!" Neither got away without a comeback: "If you hassle us, you're just playing into our hands," Luck retorted over a microphone. The group used similar in-your-face tactics in a poster campaign in February. After a woman was pushed off a West Village subway platform by a homeless man she'd rebuffed (breaking her wrist in the process), the SHP posted signs publicizing the incident as a brutal example of street harassment. Still, in a city where "nice ass" vies with "fuhgeddaboudit" for the title of most popular saying, snuffing out street harassment seems unlikely. Yet the recent conviction of two Bronx men on rioting and assault charges in connection with last summer's parade attacks (16 other men pleaded guilty to similar charges before their cases went to trial) is heartening. "We are very glad that convictions were made, and especially that the jury did not accept the 'victims as willing participants' defense," says [one member]. "But we remain concerned that these attacks are seen as an isolated incident. Very few people make the connection between the assaults in Central Park and less extreme forms of street harassment, or between all forms of street harassment and misogyny." Of course, some men delude themselves into thinking their shouted commentary is flattering. "It isn't about being pretty or being paid a compliment," says [a member]. "They're strangers. You don't know what they're going to do." Indeed, because of the looming physical threat, women are often afraid to confront men who pester them, but if the Street Harassment Project succeeds, passersby will begin to intervene on their behalf. While men can't join the Street Harassment Project, a member explains that they can support the cause by abstaining from harassing behaviors like catcalls and lingering stares. She urges men to go even further by confronting other guys about their bad behavior. Challenging sexist men does have its risks, though. One member of the decade-old New York Men Against Sexism says he has received two phoned death threats since he joined the group's antisexism teach-ins and street theater in 1992. "You're threatening something very sacred, this male brotherhood," he says. "The first thing men do is pull out the faggot card and question your masculinity." On the bright side, Gordon contends that harassing behavior is learned from bad role models and can be unlearned. "Harassment is all about getting a woman's attention because you can," he says. But if a guy would rather have a woman's respect, he might try keeping quiet. The Street Harassment Project meets weekly. For information, call 212-713-5743 or go to www.streetharassmentproject.org. New York Men Against Sexism meets monthly. For information, call 212-316-1654.