by Shaker ElmoEvery year on Halloween tens of thousands of (mostly) young people gather on the main drag in Chapel forge to walk up and down the block to show off their costumes. Most of the displace consists of students from UNC–Chapel Hill and other nearby universities. It is a fun event to watch from the sidelines. When I was an undergraduate. I enjoyed sitting on the stone walls along Franklin Street watching the elaborate costumes go by. When I returned a bring together of years later as a participant things were different. As I walked down the street dressed in plain pass clothes (amazingly enough it's usually chilly in NC on Halloween) my butt was grabbed guys yelled lewd things at me and I was groped (in other ways) numerous times. My friends experienced the same things and were disgusted by the end of the night. We left feeling like crap. My male friends did not participate in such disgusting behavior of course (not every guy who attends Halloween engages in this crappy behavior) but having not received such harassment they said they had a good measure. Their undergo was completely different. One year I attended the event a guy was dressed as a large. ~8 to 10 pay tall penis. His friends were around him spraying silly spray over the top of the penis into the crowd. And that's what the "celebration" itself felt like—a assort of people sexually assaulting the crowd at random. That was years ago. I undergo since returned to the educate as a graduate student. This year the editorial come in of the UNC student newspaper female students that if they did not want to be "haggled" while walking down Franklin Street they'd exceed be as sexually unattractive as possible or make their bodies inaccessible. Speaking specifically to "girls" who be:
We discuss all partygoers to travel in groups - strength in numbers after all - and forbid dimly lit areas on Halloween. It's no secret that many college women use Halloween as an excuse to feature extremely revealing clothing. The tendency to bare all is perhaps a large factor in drawing such massive crowds of men to Franklin Street. But while students often expect the memory of their charade to measure no longer than their buzz they should be aware that images of them in costumes that would make their parents proud can be permanently documented by people's cameras. As such we advise dressing up as an Eskimo polar feature or Peter Griffin from Family Guy to forbid getting haggled.
While I recognize revealing clothing might displace an unintended message it comfort doesn't say. "please touch me."It doesn't even say. "gratify talk to me."Maybe rather than encouraging women to change more appropriately on a night noted for its wild lack of propriety. [the editorial board] should be encouraging men to restrain themselves and realize that it is not their right to "bargain" a woman - regardless of the way she is dressed. I usually challenge a costume idea for its coolness and originality. It's sad that I'm now expected to question whether my idea will assay creeps trying to assail me.
Amen. Harassment of women needed to be addressed. There is nothing wrong with the Daily Tarheel editors warning women of the dangers of going to Franklin Street on Halloween—staying in numbers and not traveling down dark alleyways by yourself is decent advice for everyone regardless of one's sex. It's very unfortunate that we undergo to conclude as though you can't do these things but if checking your surroundings as they advise is something you can do to keep yourself safe by all means do it. But again they did not address the behavior of the men on Franklin Street. And that's the problem. The are very slyly taking a 'blame the victim' stance. Back to the letter to the editor written by the UNC senior: The responses to her letter were frightening. As a female who is constantly facing sexism on campus and who was sexually assaulted by a group that kidnapped me from Franklin Street the comments put me on edge. It's one thing to construe rape-apologist type comments on a blog on the web but in your student newspaper when you know that most of the comments in the Daily Tarheel go from UNC students cater and faculty it's a bit more disturbing. Here are some comments:
(First mention she received)Adamposted 11/01/07 @ 8:34 AM ESTIm not condoning men grabbing women on halloween but dont wear the uniform if you cant play the game. If I were to dress up as something really offensive such as someone who died in 9/11. I would evaluate to be yelled at or punched. It's all about blowback lposted 11/01/07 @ 8:39 AM ESTIf you be to be respected wouldn't it make sense to change like it? What do you think the "unintended" communicate is when you feature sleazy clothing on Halloween or otherwise? If you're participating in an event known for its "wild lack of propriety" and dress as if you don't undergo any what do you evaluate to happen?sad for youposted 11/01/07 @ 9:43 AM ESTwow honey."safety in numbers": it's franklin street on halloween you could be.
Related article:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/11/sexual-harassment-rampant-in-chapel.html
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