Ladies and Gentlemen,
Whistling at a woman while she walks down the street to the local grocery store is not a compliment.
Screaming things at us in the nature of, "nice legs," "nice tits," "smile!" Or, in Spanish, "mamacita," "dame un beso" (give me a kiss)—not compliments. And, please, please, please, do not look at us from atop your awful, gas-wasting trucks with eyes that say, "If we were in a room alone, I'd have my way with you, whether you consent or not."
Now, if I'm approached by someone and that someone says, "you look really nice today," or, "I love your dress"—that's a compliment. Thank you so much. Smile.
I usually respond to the "mamacita" or "nice legs" with the middle finger. But these young women from Mexico City gave me a way better idea—let's combat sexual harassment on the streets with a toy gun filled with confetti and loud punk music.
The video—brought to you by
AJ+ Español—is in Spanish, so I'll translate for non-Spanish speakers:
Ana Káren: We're walking down the street, when we are harassed...we run to that person's car, we grab the confetti gun, we turn on the speakers and we sing, "Sexist Punk."
Song: "What you just did to me is called harassment, if you do that to me, this is how I respond."
Ana Beatriz: We have to respond, and if with that response we can encourage more women yo do it, that's the ideal.
Ana Káren: We recommend you that it should be fun, so that you keep that sensation of violence that you just experience, and you can leave in peace and know that you can still have a great day.
Ana Beatriz: We definitely don't believe that we are going to change the world. But we certainly know we have changed ours.