Women Sick of Catcalling Fight Back With Selfies and #Dearcatcallers
You may have heard about the woman who started taking selfies with her cat-callers to show us how often she has to deal with it and how unashamed harassers can be. Well, more women from around the world are starting to pick up the hashtag #Dearcatcallers.
#Dearcatcallers was started by 20-year-old Noa Jansma. She lives in Amsterdam and has to deal with some sh**, so in August she started an Instagram account for selfies with said heaps of sh** in the background. While #Metoo and #Yesallwomen certainly fit in the same category of “yes, misogyny is a thing and we would really appreciate some (legislative?) support on this”, Jansma’s selfies stand out because it is casual harassment happening in the moment, hovering behind Jansma with a creepy grin.
In a post on her account, Jansma explained why she chose to use selfies to fight catcalling: “By making the selfie, both the objectifier and the object are assembled in one composition. Myself, as the object, standing in front of the catcallers represents the reversed power ration which is caused by this project.”
The good news is that nearby Rotterdam recently made catcalling a punishable offense, and the Netherland’s Labour Party has also proposed a bill that would apply similar rules to the whole country.
Here are the women who have joined Jansma in holding up the mirror to the most pernicious side effect of living in a patriarchy.
Prepare yourself for some straight fire from the selfie takers.
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#dearcatcallers “hmm nice toes” (after following me for 27 min)
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Heyy girl! Get in (my car)! Come back to Cherry Hill w/ me!! You know you wanna!! #DearCatCallers #ItHasNOTHINGtoDoWithWhatYoureWearing
And just a few from Noa Jansma’s @Dearcatcallers account:
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#dearcatcallers “baby! Baby! *whisting*”
Keep killing it, Noa and crew.