As for your experience with those three big jerks, I am sympathetic and agree that encounters like that can spoil an evening and make us all feel somehow violated or dirty.

As a white woman, though, I am wondering how the "race" card impacts what happens? Which would have been more disturbing: if Michel's three big guys were white or black?

And, isn't it so much more awful when the sexual remarks are added to racial slurs?

Sent by Barbara Gavin | 11:36 AM ET | 07-03-2007

Hello, I want to thank you for the job you are doing I am so humbly thankfull for how you discuss worth while things. My comment is this. I feel and (my wife feels) that there are very disrespecfull people in this world yet we have to account for how the women are representing themselves. Take a survey, Take a beautiful woman That is wearing clothing that fits and covers her body and is not suggestive. Let her walk in front of some men or even boys. For the most part you will get respect. (Hello, how are you, you look nice today) Take that same woman and dress her with scandalis cloths. The kind of clothing that a lot of girls and women wear today, and you will get a whole different reaction. (there is always the exception but for the mostpart this is what you will get) It is time to pay for our freedom. Freedom is not free! It comes with responsibility. If a young woman wants to dress like a street walker she will get the results that a street walker gets. All men are not dogs. Let us look at self first. Do our actions cause negative things to happen. Peace& Blessings

Sent by Pastors Kevin & Debra Dupree | 1:12 PM ET | 07-03-2007

What's next, the burka? Isn't that at least part of the idea in the middle east for requiring that a woman cover herself from head to toe - so that men who otherwise can't control themselves won't harass them? Even if a woman is wearing clothing that some might call less than modest doesn't give men the right to harass them in the street.

Sent by Stanley | 2:39 PM ET | 07-03-2007

Although I agree and find some women cloting not very dignified of the name clothing; I don't think that has anything to do with the issue. Honestly, the argument raised by Pastors Kevin and Debra Dupree is such an old argument; the problem is not the man who behave as such; the issue is the way the women are dressing !!!
It sounds way to easy an anwer; I agree lets look at ourselves first and see how this sort of behavior has been encourage so far, the perpetrators themselves will tell you they only do it because of the way the women are dressing!!!. It is the kind of old mentality that keeps us from taking action against this kind of violence and sexism. It is exactly the kind of comments that send me in flame. Unfortunately, I do not have the proper ease in english to answer properly.

The wrong action is the cat-calling, not the way women are dressing. Lets adress that issue not by covering the woman with extra yards of fabric but by fighting back the way these brave, intelligent and beautiful women are doing.
Thank you for a very interesting moment of radio (and interesting moment in the office)

Sent by V'ronique St-Cyr | 5:01 PM ET | 07-03-2007

It's interesting because this came up in a conversation with my mom once and she had a saying for it. She said, "Honey, a man could pee in the street and people will point and laugh but if a woman did it people would say she's being unlady-like." What happens when she is being lady-like?

As a young African American women I walk out of my house covering my essential body parts and men stare at me, honk their horns, approach me on the street or just say Mami Mami come here. I feel like everyday I step out of my house I am stepping into a war zone and I have to block it out. Why do I have to be subjected to that?

I think men have this weird notion that because they were born physically stronger that they have the authority to say and do whatever they want. No I don't think so. I would expect that from young men who need to be taught how to be a gentlemen...not from grown men. There needs to be some form of respect towards women.

Would you say, "Psss...hey...hey damn you look fine" to your mother?

Then don't say it to me.

Sent by Tamika S. | 6:24 PM ET | 07-03-2007

Interesting and timely. I have just had to educate my 15 year old daughter on how to walk the streets of her own neighborhood. In the last year or so, as her body has matured, I have found myself "teaching" her things outside of school as the old folks say. We live in one of the so called worst areas of Houston, 5th Ward, and I have over the previously mentioned year or so have taught her how to "mean mug", ignore, put in his place, and otherwise, manage young men and old in this neighborhood. It's sad that those of us who are professionals but choose to continue to live in our neighborhood of birth, are subjected to everyday slaps in the face such as my child being insulted. The most recent case was when she and 2 other friends caught the bus to buy accessories,(although I have a car and was sitting at home, I believe all children should have the basic ability to navigate the city bus), a man at the bus stop was arguing and insulting an adult woman there because she would not respond to his attempts to attract her. My daughter and her friends took offense to his choice of insults (b-,w-,etc) and proceeded to argue with him for his broad generalizations which they felt included them. Needless to say she was livid when she got home and proceeded to be angry that I had not heard the phone when she called me to come to her rescue. How it broke my heart to have to tell her that there was nothing I could do about this man's blatant disrespect. How humiliating to explain to my daughter that the culture of our community has desintegrated to the point that you have to ignore such arguments if they don't involve you, for your own safety. Well, anyway, how can I find this video the girls made? I would love to show her something positive.

Sent by CeCe | 7:34 PM ET | 07-03-2007

I just checked the website of Girls for Gender Equity and while they DO make their anti-harrassment poster available, I didn't see a link to the video. We have a copy, so we'll contact them to see if we can post it. It's 18 mintues and worth seeing, if you don't mind my saying so.

Sent by Michel Martin (your host) | 11:00 PM ET | 07-03-2007

The lack of respect is overwhelming!

I just hope I'm part of the change and not the problem.

Sent by Vernon J. Davis Jr. | 2:21 PM ET | 07-04-2007

There are many levels to this, in that if women are scantily clad, there would be additional self esteem issues for the girls to explore as well.

However, a women can be very elegantly dressed, and still if she's attractive, she will be harassed by a certain type of man. It still can feel very intimidating for the woman. These women bring up a very valid point about the power issues for many men who try to exert it over women.
Even women in burkas, and even especially women in burkas, are subject to abusive behaviors from men. Time for all of us to make the effort towards this next level of awareness.

Sent by Joy | 3:58 PM ET | 07-04-2007

I was glad to hear that this documentary was made.
From a very young age I experienced street harassment. My mother used to tell me "It's a compliment". My twin brother used to tell me "Point 'em out to me and I'll beat 'em up!"
Each state that I have lived in, and every different state of physical development, the harassment varied, but it always, always, always felt threatening.
When I moved to Z??rich, Switzerland, I thought that it was over. It seemed a different environment. I had to walk through the red-light district to get to school. Even there, I was able to walk down the street unharassed by men.
It didn't last, however. When summer came, and the warm weather with it, the usual calls began, if only in a different language. Steryotypically contruction workers, irritating men walking down the street the norm. The worst, however, was on my street. I was in a great mood and headed to meet my husband for dinner. Because of my mood, I smiled politely at a young man walking past me on the sidewalk. As I continued on my way I was shocked that he had grabbed my ass before continuing on. I was so startled that I didn't react until it was too late. That was the worst of it: I GOT MAD AT ME!

Sent by jessy | 1:28 PM ET | 07-05-2007

Well isn't it just "Boys being Boys?"

This is a question Girls for Gender Equity faces at every turn of our work. Whether we're campaigning for girls' rights to play sports, rights to learn in the classroom or rights to walk down the street without being harassed; we're always asked, well isn't "boys just being boys?" There are a lot of points we can make about that statement and our main one is that "boys being boys" is an outdated slogan pitched to avoid dealing with the issues that hurt half of our population [girls and women]. The world has accepted that this obstacle of "boys being boys" takes precedence over anyone not boy or not masculine. With messages like "you throw like a girl" or "you're a sissy." We don't raise boys to be men -- with all dimensions in mind -- we raise them instead not to be women or gay men.
We cannot continue to uplift our boys by degrading our girls; doing so says to the world that girls are valued less than. We all know "that's not right," we all think and speak "that's not right," it's time for our actions to show "That's Not Right." We need a collective dialogue about these issues. Exposing street harassment as unacceptable is a start and speaks to the spectrum of violence against women whether we're at war or not, the same race or not, poor or not; the oppression of women is consistently an issue at home and abroad. Let's work together to change what's "Not Right" about this ["boys being boys"]. Don't accept it, speak up, reach out, mentor one another, and contact GGE.
In Solidarity, Joanne Smith

Sent by Joanne Smith | 7:59 PM ET | 07-05-2007

This kind of thing is not boys being boys; it's boys acting like preditors! While I can appreciate some of the earlier comments about modes of dress that might contribute to the problem, I am here to tell you that it does not matter what a woman looks like. Men who engage in this kind of thing need no visual aids. I am 41 years old, out of shape, and do not advertise, so to speak. Once when I was having a bad day and looking exactly how I felt, a man pulled along side me as I was walking down the street, making very foul overtures. It was clear to me that in that moment that nothing about me, my looks, intellect,personality, etc. mattered; to him and others like him I was nothing more than a play toy, subject to whatever game he wanted to play. I shot him a look that I am sure would curdle milk, and he of course promptly cursed me and told me what he really thought of me. Now we are not talking about Iraq or Afganistan here, but it is a power game all the same. More power to the girls of GGE using their power to confront this ugliness in such a meaningful manner.

Sent by Lee | 5:05 PM ET | 07-06-2007

As a young, White feminist living in a liberal college town, I'm continually amazed at how, even here, this sort of behavior still flourishes. The contrast in the above postings, with some saying "this isn't Iraq or Afghanistan" and others stating that "dressing like a streetwalker will get you treated like one" illustrate our culture's confusing and infuriating mix of post-Third Wave outrage and insidious, patriarchal passivity. Men do not act this way towards women because they are beautiful, ugly, Black, White, dressed scandalously or otherwise; they do so because they know that, in our social hierarchy, they can. Men have more power than women; they know they'll always be able to get away with it. Even though I go to college where some of the greatest feminists got their start, my friends and I have experienced just this sort of behavior, and the result, to me, was the most horrifying aspect: we were all terrified. Angry, enraged, to be sure, but the threat posed was stronger than our ability to fight back. Until our culture actually embraces the idea of gender equality, this problem will endure. And, unfortunately, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Sent by Lita | 4:21 PM ET | 07-10-2007

Bravo! This is such a huge issue for women and completely goes under the radar. I think it's interesting that so much of the blame for men's behavior is shifted to women. We're supposed to change how we dress, change how we walk, change how we respond, change the route we take to get to work, but men aren't 'supposed' to change anything. I think it's high time that men are held accountable for their actions.

Sent by Feminist Review | 11:24 AM ET | 07-13-2007