HollaBack Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Problem

In the summer of 2004, I was in Pittsburgh volunteering for planned parenthood. I was out on my lunch break. Just before I approached a homeless man sitting on the street, I tugged on my skirt to pull it down a little as I felt like it was riding up on me a little bit. The guy laughed and told me to pull off my skirt and said that I had great legs. I felt so embarrassed, just mortified. I'm sure I turned bright red. I was really pissed that he had embarrassed me like that so I turned around and gave him the middle finger. He was shocked and said he was just giving me a compliment. At that point I just kept walking. I felt bad about giving someone who probably has mental problems (and obviously other problems) the middle finger, but it also felt so good to actually respond for once to street harrassment and show the person how much they upset me.

The worst part about this was that when I told my family about the incident that night, they were really mad...at me! They said I put myself in danger by responding angrily. I felt so helpless. Not having their support made me cry. So thanks for these websites and the support that they offer.

Cursin' Out a Neanderthal

Over the summer I went to the Carlisle Car Show with my boyfriend and
sister. I was wearing jeans and a tank top, no cleavage, no ass hanging
out, hell i didn't even show stomach. So the three of us were waiting
in the crowd for the burn-out contest to begin. To keep themselves
occupied, the crowd decided to start the party off right and bribe girls
to show their tits to the thousands of people gathered in the stands.
This went on for nearly and hour, girl after girl lifting their shirts
in various parts of the crowd. Well I guess the guy in front of me
decided we needed a little action in our corner, and proceeded to hold
up a $20 bill and say "Show your tits?" right in front of my boyfriend
(who was holding my hand) and 15 year old sister! Keep in mind I am
pretty small in the chestal region, just shows how desperate these guys
were for some action! I looked him straight in the eye and said loudly
"Are you fucking kidding me??" He then proceeded to say "How bout
$40?" He then looks right at my boyfriend, almost like he's asking him
for permission or to help convince me! Meanwhile said boyfriend is
giving him the most evil eye ever and I say "Fuck You Man!" He then
offers "$50"!!! So I put my middle finger right in his fat, pasty face
just to make sure he would see it, and he finally turned back around and
left me alone. Too bad I didn't have a camera. Later my boyfriend told
me how proud he was to have a girlfriend who could handle herself and
wouldn't stand around taking that crap or wait for her boyfriend to
rescue her. Felt good cursin' that neanderthal out!

-Jess

Rittenhouse Square

I only lived in Philly for a year, a few years ago, but I still remember how this incident made me feel. I worked in Center City and was crossing the street to get to Rittenhouse Square to eat my lunch. It was the middle of the day on a workday, but any time's a good time for harrassment, right? A car full of young men drives by and yells out the window at me "Your turkeys are done!" as if the entire street needed to be reminded I had nipples. Assholes.

- Jenn

Train Trouble

On my way to Lancaster, PA from Philly a few weeks ago as I was sitting alone on the train, a man asked if he could sit next to me. The train was crowded and I didn't think anything of it so I assented, "Go for it!" As soon as he sat down, he struck up a conversation with me. I am a friendly person so I went along with the conversation, but we weren't three minutes into it when he asked if I would come to Harrisburg to "go clubbing" with him. I told him no and asked him why it is that men feel like they can hit on strange women on public transportation. (This seems to happen to me a lot.) He shrugged and said, "I don't know. It works." In the next few minutes he asked me for my phone number. A friend of his from across the aisle overheard the conversation and my refusal to give the man my phone number and he asked, " Can I have your phone number?" When I told him no, he laughed and said, "Heh, well I wouldn't have called you any way!" I sorta half laughed and then the same man across the aisle asked, "Can I have naked pictures of you then?" Disgusted, I replied, "Um, no." He then told me that his friend who was sitting adjacent me was in a pornography. I did not respond and so the man in my seat asked me what I was studying in graduate school. When I told him writing, he asked me if I wrote pornography. I did not respond and proceded to situate my belongings below my seat and explained, "I get nervous about my stuff." He smirked, looked me up and down, and inquired, "Your stuff?" After which I told him, "This conversation is over."

I don't know what it is that makes certain men feel they are entitled to treat strange women in this manner, but I am glad for a place to share this awful story.

-Emily

Cave Commotion

I work at a cave as a tourguide. Last week during one of my tours a man asked me how old I was. I told him my age. He was a member of a group so there were group advisors listening to the conversation. He asked me what I was doing after the tour and, without catching on, I responded, "Nothing." Then one of his group advisors said, "Don't you got a girl back home?" This sort of creeped me out, and it got worse when he asked me to "talk and stuff" after my tour. The advisors did nothing, and I didn't respond. After the tour I needed to walk down a hill to go to the guide room where I was supposed to be. As I ran down the hill, he whistled and yelled. I jumped in the guide room and waited till he left.