What You Were Wearing When You Were Sexually Harassed

By Irin Carmon | August 9, 2010 | 5:42pm

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As easily demonstrated by our recent harassment poll, it doesn’t matter what you were wearing. To drive home that point, here are the numbers on your experiences, and some of the more striking fill-in answers to the “other” field.

Certain trends emerged from the 678 fill-in answers. Apparently, some men love to harass pregnant women, or women caring for small children. (Whores!) Being sloppy or unwashed, wearing something baggy or ill-fitting — these appear to be the equivalent of “asking for it” to certain dudes.

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On Friday afternoon there appeared to be a minor troll invasion, with a quick succession of suspect posts referring to prostitution and “asking for it,” adding, “getting greeted by a male is not harassment.” Thanks for that insight! A response that was far more pertinent and summed up the general sentiment: “The only categories i didn’t check are clothes i don’t wear.”

Some other highlights:

while picking my nose
in a bar, in a car, in a hat, on a mat…
carrying stacks of books around from the library
in scout uniform, in overalls and in granny jumpers
wearing a hijab
walking, waiting for a bus, generally being female
wearing USMC camo uniform
with women/with my girlfriend/at pride and/or queer events
walking to a restaurant with my parents at age 13
picking up dog poop
giving a guy a lapdance.
doing the time warp
in an ambulance after I broke my LEG.
While at the top of a 20 foot ladder.
entering a house of worship
Unbathed in the aftermath of a hurricane by out of state rescue workers.
dressed as the Virgin Mary (not a joke)
karate uniform
dressed as a toy soldier for a production of The Nutcracker, at age 12
crying my eyes out over a family death
walking my son in stroller; attending a pro-choice lobby day at my state capital
wearing my Arby’s uniform
while having a job interview at an outside cafe
crying/ about to get an abortion
Like a fucking Amish lady
As a 9 year old, wearing overalls.
with horse-manure stains on my clothes and hay in my hair
wearing ann taylor
in a gargoyle costume (it was Halloween, and no, I wasn’t a “sexy gargoyle.”

Click to enlarge the results of the poll:

There are so many ways to ask for it! Or maybe women walking down the street are asking for something rather basic: the right to go about our daily lives without being harassed, flashed, or assaulted; the right to exist in public space without persistent reminders that we aren’t fully safe, that we require the constant and vocal feedback of men — and that we should somehow take this as a compliment.

Earlier: What Were You Wearing When You Were Harassed?

Image via Shutterstock/SVLuma.