HollaBack Savannah

Forsyth Gawker

2010-10-05T16:47:00.003-04:00

I was walking home from work through the field in Forsyth Park at around 3:55pm. There was a young woman lying on her back next to her bike, reading a book in the middle of the field. She was obviously sunning and had her shirt pulled up to expose her belly - no different than all the swimsuit-wearers who sun there.

Anyway, there was no one nearby on this end of the field, save for her, myself, ... and then this old man who walks up to her. He stops no more than 10 feet away from her and stares. Actually, no, I should say leers. He made such an obvious show of it, he even shaded his eyes and leaned forward. He did this for a couple of minutes. He even circled around her, shading his eyes and staring.

The woman clearly didn't know him and was obviously growing uncomfortable. She pulled her shirt down and kept shifting. I stopped walking and stared back at the man. He noticed me and he, too, grew uncomfortable, but he kept staring at her and kept making a show of it! So I pulled out my phone camera to take a pic... but the damn thing froze! Pulling out the camera was enough, however. The guy eventually hesitated and walked away. I managed to unfreeze the phone and snap a pic as he wandered off. His hair is a little more grey/white than the photo shows.

I saw him veer really close to another young woman, then veer in a completely opposite direction to go sit on the boxes that house the machinery near the stage fountain. He seemed to have nothing better to do than to aimlessly wander around, creeping young women out.

I hope he got the message: We stand in solidarity, douchebags! And if I had to, I would so have offered to help the other women kick him in the balls!

Submitted by Another Young Woman 10/05/2010

Location: Forsyth Park

Support for the Forsyth Cafe Victim!

2010-10-05T16:26:00.001-04:00

Remember the woman who experienced this jerk from the Forsyth Cafe? Well, a reader wrote in with some supportive statements!

Hi,

I've been following the story on the HollaBack Savannah blog. I think the woman who was harassed should contact the cafe again, and if they act uncooperative she should ask for someone who's higher up than the DeNato person she had spoken to. I hope she does get justice for what happened to her. Men who harass on the job need to be reprimanded.

I hope the woman who submitted the story knows that there are people out there who support her 100%.

- Dienna, DC Metro Area

Love the support! <3

New Site!

2010-10-04T00:34:00.002-04:00

Hollaback main has a new site!

ihollaback.org !!

(Just to avoid any confusion, the Savannah branch will be still be operating this blog.)

Forsyth Park Cafe III

2010-09-01T01:27:00.001-04:00

The woman who was harassed by the Forsyth Park Cafe employee sent us another update. Forsyth Park Cafe never e-mailed her back after promising they would and agreeing that the situation was bad.

Here's our opinion: Shame on you, Forsyth Park Cafe! You made a promise to follow up with a victim of harassment by one of your employees - an employee who did it while he was on the job, no less - and you're not following through! Shame on you for not supporting your community!

Forsyth Park Cafe Update

2010-08-23T04:07:00.000-04:00

The woman who submitted the story about the Forsyth Cafe employee sent us an update. It seems the business is on track for doing the right thing and supporting its patrons!

You can read the update here.

Forsyth Park Cafe Not That Classy?

2010-08-19T21:38:00.009-04:00

You would think that with the Mansion on Forsyth managing the Forsyth Park Cafe, they would know how to hire classy workers. Not so much.

Today at around 1:30pm, I'm walking home through the park with my groceries. I have my work clothes and sunglasses on. As I'm passing the fountain heading west, I see this guy up ahead of me. He exits out a back door of the Forsyth Cafe and heads away from me. He looks back over his shoulder and notices me walking in the distance behind him. He keeps looking back over his shoulder and alters his course so he's heading in the same direction I am. I keep trying to mind my business, looking straight ahead, not making eye contact. He looks back a few more times and chooses a seat right where I'm about to walk by him... as you can see from the pics, it's not a very comfortable seat. There were plenty of open benches around the area. Since he kept looking back at me and since he altered his course, I'm pretty sure his seat of choice was deliberate so he could get my attention. I thought to myself, "Here it comes." and not a moment later, he tries to get my attention.

He calls to me, "If I weren't on break, I'd sure love to carry those bags." While that is a catcall (and a bit patronizing of him to assume without asking me if I even needed help), it wasn't that bad in my opinion, so I called back, without looking back over my shoulder, "I don't need it!"

If this man were a true gentleman, he would have been able to accept a woman's "no" gracefully and gone about his business. Not this guy. He isn't a gentleman, he just pretends to be one for the first five seconds. He's a fraud.

He starts mocking me, ranting about how I'm "feisty" (even more patronizing!), and talks about my walk and my body. It's really hard to make the whole sentences out because I had walked a bit ahead by now, but I was catching words here and there.

I have experienced street harassment of all kinds in Savannah for a long time, and I'm fed up with it. I deserve to feel safe and non-harassed in the very park I help pay for! This was one of those last straws, so I stopped, walked back toward him and told him that what he was doing was street harassment. He pretended to be dumb and kept saying "For speaking to you?!" over and over, like a broken record. I explained that making sexual comments about women and trying to force them to interact with him unsolicited, and making women feel unsafe is all considered street harassment. I told him that it is not a respectful way to speak to women. He kept repeating his stupid broken record phrase. I kept repeating that it was street harassment. He then starts insulting me under his breath. I told him that if he did not stop speaking, I would talk to his employer, because women should not be treated like this.

He says, "I know what you are." I pull my camera out and take two pictures. As I'm walking away, I hear him call me a bitch under his breath. He says some more insults, but by now I'm too far away again to hear them. You know, if he's that bad about taking "no" from a woman who is just walking by, I'd hate to think of what he'll do to the next woman that turns him down for sex. He seems to have a huge ego problem when it comes to women denying him.

All this while he was on the clock for the Forsyth Cafe! He's even wearing his work uniform and his black apron. I'm going to go talk to the managers with my boyfriend this weekend. And I'm bringing the pictures with me. I hope Forsyth Cafe is helpful, so it will just be the individual that's a bad egg, and not the company as a whole. I will e-mail HollaBack an update on what happens. Thanks for being here for me to vent. It makes me really sad to know this wouldn't have happened if I were a guy.

UPDATE: I wanted to write back and let you know I spoke to someone at Forsyth Cafe. My boyfriend and I went and talked to someone named "DeNatto" or "Denato" on Saturday. I didn't catch the spelling of his name, sorry! He was a really sympathetic and helpful person. He asked me if there was anything they could do for me. I stressed that what I wanted most was for management to have a discussion with the employee. "Denato" (Sorry for the spelling again!) agreed that it wasn't appropriate and I should be able to just walk home through the park minding my own business. He said the discussion would happen and took down my information and let me know that management would be in contact with me for a follow up. I'm comforted to know that this business does hire good people and that the harasser was probably a bad egg.

Interesting fact! "Denato" knew exactly who I was talking about before I gave him a description or showed a picture of the harasser. In fact, "Denato" described who he thought I was talking about to me first and I confirmed it. That makes me wonder if Mr. Harasser has a history...

UPDATE: It's been over a week. I never heard back from them. I'm really disappointed and I worry that they just tossed my info in the paper when I left the store. Maybe I will try a follow-up again? I don't know if I have the heart for more disappointment. They promised I'd be contacted in a few days.

Submitted by anonymous 08/19/2010

Location: Forsyth Park

iHollaBack Anticipation!

2010-07-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

ihollaback.org is getting closer to launch! And articles are popping up everywhere in anticipation! Here are a few:

NY Daily News

Tech President

The Frisky

Enjoy!
Word of mouth is that the NYC launch party was a blast!

Vote for HollaBack!

2010-06-17T22:14:00.001-04:00

HollaBack! is a finalist in the "Revelation to Action" competition! Vote and if HollaBack! wins, that's $5,000 to put toward marketing costs which will help all of us get the word out about HollaBack! You'll need to log in before you vote.

Thanks for the support!
<3

HollaBack in London!

2010-06-17T17:52:00.001-04:00

Welcome HollaBack LDN to the cause!

HollaBack LDN lets women Holla Back at street harassers! London is not a playground for pervy dudes to call out at us when we're going about our daily business! So stop walkin' on and ignoring it and Holla Back: Send us pics of street harassers and tell us your story...

I couldn't have said it better myself. Good luck, HollaBack LDN!

Forsyth Harassers

2010-02-21T18:21:00.009-05:00

It was 5:35 PM today and my sister and I were walking through the crowded Forsyth Park after grocery shopping. We were minding our business, just chatting with each other, when seemingly out of nowhere, I hear kissing sounds. I glance over my shoulder and it's the two older men in the photo. They keep making kissing sounds and one of them mumbles something. I didn't hear it, but it would be no surprise to me if it were something foul and offensive. They keep making the sounds, so I turn and give them the finger. When they saw, they just smiled creepy shit-eating grins, with no respect for me or my sister (or likely any other woman), just happy that they got attention.

I've been told to ignore this behavior, but I know better and I know that ignoring does nothing, because this continually happens. Then I remembered this site!

I told my sister to keep going while I grabbed my cellphone and walked back. The park was crowded, so I wasn't afraid. I started snapping pictures of the douches. Both of them became uncomfortable when I started taking pictures. Blue shirt turned completely around and the man in the black hoodie kept looking away. That made me feel a lot better and made me feel like I taken the power they felt away from them. Watch out for these disrespectful men, Savannah.

Submitted by anonymous 02/21/2010

Location: Forsyth Park

Broughton St. Harasser

2010-02-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

On Thursday night, two friends and I were sitting outside of Starbucks on the corner of Broughton and Bull. A guy came up and asked us if we would buy him some coffee. He looked normal enough, but none of us had any money to buy him some. He started spouting off about how he was an incarnation of Shivah, and that he would one day reign down upon us. We thought at first that he was drunk and just messing with us, but it got serious pretty quickly. He kept going in and out of different accents. The whole thing was very strange. He started calling my friend a demon, and when my girl friend went inside to use the restroom, he kept asking if she was calling the police. He said he was looking for a sacrifice and that he would be in jail by the end of the night. I think he picked up on the fact that two of us were gay, and so he kept bringing up the fact that he wasn't gay and we were all going to pay. We got pretty scared and started walking away, but he followed us. Even when we would cross streets and turn around, he would just follow. Since my car was parked in a really dark and sketchy area, we decided to just go back in Starbucks. He waited outside, watching through the windows. Eventually we just asked an employee if she would take us out the back and we made a quick dash to the car.

I managed to snap this picture while he was doing one of his weird silent chants. Everyone avoid this guy!

Submitted by Jon 01/08/2010

Location: Starbucks on Broughton

Bull St. Harasser

2009-12-16T01:58:00.010-05:00

I'm a SCAD student who would just like to attend school in peace. This past July, I was taking summer classes at Arnold Hall. Around 1:30 PM, I was walking back from class and heading north along Bull St. towards Forsyth. I was wearing sunglasses and listening to music through my headphones. Clearly, I was trying to peacefully tune out the world and I didn't want to be bothered.

On either the corner of Anderson or Henry St., just after I had crossed, this middle-aged man approaches me and says what sounds like, "I feel like fuckin'!" I really hoped I had heard him wrong, so I pulled a headphone out and said, "Excuse me?" He repeated it... and kept repeating "I feel like fuckin'! I feel like fuckin'!" I told him, "Well, I feel like kicking you in the balls!" and walked off. He kept saying it so I flipped him off, but he just laughed.

I wish I had known about this site because I would have taken a picture!

Submitted by anonymous on 12/10/2009

Location: Bull St. corner of Anderson or Henry

Vote for HollaBack 2.0!

2009-10-29T17:11:00.004-04:00

From HollaBack NYC:

We are currently rated #2 out of 243 applications. A #1 ranking will help us secure the funds to make this initiative happen.

HOLLABACK against street harassment!

Please sign up and register to vote for HollaBack 2.0! You can do that here.

HollaBack Around the World

2009-10-20T16:43:00.003-04:00

We at HollaBack Savannah want to send out a 'Welcome!' to the new fledgling HollaBack on the block, HollaBack UK!

http://hollaback-uk.blogspot.com

Thanks, HollaBack UK! Creeps know no borders.

Forsyth Harasser

2009-10-20T08:13:00.007-04:00

This happened this August. It was around 1:30 in the afternoon and I had just got off work. I picked up some stuff from Kroger and I was walking through Forsyth park with groceries to grab something from Brighter Day. This old man approaches me and cat-calls me. I say “Excuse me?!” and the dude says that I “Don’t need to get an attitude.” I ignore him and keep walking.

I come out of Brighter Day and walk back the way I came through the park. The old man is sitting on a bench, waiting for me, and gets up as soon as he notices me. He starts to follow me and then cuts across the grass to approach me from the front. The whole time he's catcalling me. I'm alone and laden down with groceries and this man is trying to follow me home. Needless to say, I'm starting to become afraid of what he might do and I can't get away or get help fast enough with all the groceries.

I put down my groceries and tell him off. He pauses and starts walking towards me with, "Sweetie, I'm just having fun." I say, "You're pissing me off." and I pull out my mace. Dude backs away, holding up his hands and saying, "I'm sorry!" -- Damn, right, douche. Damn right.

Submitted by Jen on 10/19/2009

Location: Forsyth Park

Helpful Men Around the World

2009-10-13T05:00:00.000-04:00

A waiter given a £10,000 reward for helping to convict a rapist has donated the money to the victim.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8300451.stm

Welcome to HollaBack Savannah

2009-10-13T04:50:00.010-04:00

Welcome to HollaBack Savannah.

Inspired by the original HollaBack NYC-

HollaBack Savannah empowers Savannah women and LGBT folks to speak out against street harassers. Whether you’re commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of someone’s fantasy. So stop walkin’ on and HollaBack: send us your stories and pics of street harassers!

Capture street harassment with your words and your cellphone.

Send pictures and stories to hollabacksavannah@gmail.com

View our anti-racism policy: http://hollabacksavannah.blogspot.com/2009/10/anti-racism-policy.html

HollaBack FAQs: http://hollabacksavannah.blogspot.com/2009/10/hollaback-faqs.html

Please check out our Education, Resources, Activism, and HollaBack Around the World links for more information and to answer your questions.

As of October 2009, this blog is just starting out so while we wait for submissions, a few recent articles relating to activism, street harassment, rape, and awareness may be posted.

HollaBack Savannah is not responsible for the accuracy of individual postings. All views and positions expressed in posted submissions are those of individual contributors only.

Holla Back FAQs

2009-10-13T02:20:00.005-04:00

Question: Are you a bunch of crazed feminazis who hate men?

Answer: Actually, Holla Back is a collective comprised of men and women who believe in building communities where everyone feels comfortable, safe, and respected. Many people, particularly men, are unaware of the frequency and severity of disrespect and intimidation that numerous folks, especially women, experience in public spaces on a daily basis. Holla Back aims to expose and combat street harassment as well as provide an empowering forum in this struggle.

Question: OK, but what exactly is street harassment?

Answer: Street harassment is a form of sexual harassment that takes place in public spaces. At its core is a power dynamic that constantly reminds historically subordinated groups (women and LGBTQ folks, for example) of their vulnerability to assault in public spaces. Further, it reinforces the ubiquitous sexual objectification of these groups in everyday life.

At Holla Back, we believe that what specifically counts as street harassment is determined by those who experience it. While there is always the classic, “Hey baby, nice tits” there are so many other forms that go unnoted. If you feel like you have been harassed, HOLLA BACK!

Question: But aren’t you worried that your site will fuel the latent vindictiveness within women and LGBTQ-identified folks across the country, leading to a massive witch-hunt and rampant Soviet-style denunciations of countless innocents?

Answer: No.

Question: I heard something about your position on anti-racism. What’s that about, and what does it have to do with street harassment?

Answer: Replacing sexism with racism is not a proper Holla Back. Due in part to prevalent stereotypes of men of color as sexual predators or predisposed to violence, Holla Back asks that contributors do not discuss the race of harassers or include other racialized commentary. If you feel that race is important to your story, please make sure its relevance is explained clearly and constructively in your post.

Question: But isn’t your idea of “street harassment” just belittling another person’s culture?

Answer: Street harassers occupy the full spectrum of class, race, and ethnicity. Sexual harassment, and street harassment specifically, is resisted around the world. To condense another’s culture into vague assumptions about who and what they are is to generalize dangerously about a wide range of experiences and perspectives.

Question: Confronting street harassers can be dangerous. What about safety issues?

Answer: While everyone is vulnerable to stranger rape and sexual assault, studies show that those who are aware of their surroundings, walk with confidence and, if harassed, respond assertively, are less vulnerable. Nevertheless, direct confrontations with street harassers may prove extremely dangerous, particularly alone or in unpopulated spaces. While it is each individual’s right to decide when, how, and if to Holla Back, do keep issues of safety in mind. Upon deciding to photograph a harasser, you may consider doing so substantially after the initial encounter and from a distance, ensuring the harasser is unaware of your actions.

Question: I am a man who was recently sexually objectified by a woman on the street. I think this is reverse harassment. Why won’t you post my story?

Answer: While a woman making unsolicited sexual remarks to a man is certainly conceivable, the power dynamics of such an encounter are very different in a society where women comprise a historically subordinated group. Holla Back is a project dedicated to combating a particular form of violence that designates subordinated groups (such as women and LGBTQ folks, for example) as targets in public spaces or otherwise vulnerable to unsolicited, non-consensual encounters with strangers. It is thus not a forum for reporting other unpleasantries.

Question: Isn’t street harassment the price you pay for living in a city?

Answer: No, local taxes are the price you pay for living in a city. We would love to see some portion of our local taxes go towards preventing street harassment, but alas, they don’t.

In fact, street harassment is not confined to urban areas. It occurs in shopping malls, cars, parking lots, public parks, airplanes, fast-food restaurants, gas stations, churches, and numerous other public spaces.

Question: So let’s say a man sees a woman he thinks is attractive and tells her so. Are you saying that makes him a harasser?

Answer: Some do not find comments such as “Hello, beautiful” or “Hey, gorgeous” offensive. Many do. Others may find them intimidating, intrusive, or just an annoying pain in the ass. Keep in mind that many women experience unsolicited comments, as well as violent verbal assault, from men in public spaces on a regular basis. Rather than deliberating the “gray areas” of street harassment, treat everyone you encounter with respect.

Question: If you show off your boobage, shouldn’t you expect some compliments?

Answer: A compliment is not a compliment if it makes the recipient feel bad.

Question: Sure, but if “the harasser” were hot, wouldn’t you like it?

Answer: This has nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with power.

Question: You’re just a bunch of prudes, then?

Answer: Like we said, this has nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with power.

Question: Street harassment sucks, but it’s only a small part of the patriarchy. Doesn’t focusing on this specific issue detract from everything else we're up against?

Answer: The violence and disrespect experienced daily by countless people in public spaces is a serious problem with real, material consequences. While Holla Back is a project dedicated to this particular issue, it is committed to a coalitional approach and situates street harassment within a larger framework of social and economic questions. Thus, the collective aims to collaborate with a diverse range of feminist, queer and anti-racist initiatives.

Holla Back Savannah is not responsible for the accuracy of individual postings. All views and positions expressed in posted submissions are those of individual contributors only.

Anti-Racism Policy

2009-10-13T02:09:00.007-04:00

Replacing sexism with racism is not a proper Holla Back.

Due in part to prevalent stereotypes of men of color as sexual predators or predisposed to violence, Holla Back asks that contributors do not discuss the race of harassers or include other racialized commentary.

If you feel that race is important to your story, please make sure its relevance is explained clearly and constructively in your post.

Initiatives combating various forms of sexual harassment and assault have continually struggled against the perpetuation of racist stereotypes, in particular the construction of men of color as sexual predators. There exist widespread fictions regarding who perpetrators are: the myth of racial minorities, particularly Latino and Black men, as prototypical rapists as well as more prone to violence is quite common. This stems in part from a tragic and violent history, where black men in the U.S. were commonly and unjustly accused of assaulting white women as well as lynched by mobs and “tried” in biased courts.

Because of the complexity of institutional and socially ingrained prejudices, Holla Back prioritizes resisting direct as well as unconscious and unintentional reinforcement of social hierarchies. Simultaneously, Holla Back aims to highlight the interrelations between sexism, racism, and other forms of bias and violence.

Further Reading:

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”

“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group.” This is a short, accessible piece on white privilege and male privilege.

“A Black Feminist Critique of Same-Race Street Harassment”

This article focuses on the experiences of black lesbians and the need for black women to hold black men accountable for upholding black patriarchy.

“Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color”

The author considers the intersections of racism and patriarchy, and how the experiences of women of color remain unrepresented within the discourses of both feminism and anti-racism.