Massenhype um ein Video: Wird man als Frau auf der Straße dauerbelästigt?

Ein feministisches Video, das den Eindruck erweckt, wenn man als Frau durch New York spaziert, sei man kontinuierlicher Belästigung ausgesetzt, sorgte erwartungsgemäß für eine hohe unkritische Resonanz auch in den deutschen Medien, etwa Bild, Stern und viele andere mehr. Weil sexuelle Belästigung von Frauen in unserer Gesellschaft bekanntlich tabuisiert wird, wurde das betreffende Youtube-Video bislang auch nur über 16 Millionen mal aufgerufen. Der oberste Grundsatz des deutschen Journalismus – " was ein Mann sagt, muss kritisch hinterfragt werden, was eine Frau behauptet, können wir einfach so übernehmen" – wurde dabei meiner Beobachtung nach bezeichnenderweise nur vom Jugendblog des "Tagesspiegel" durchbrochen.

Innerhalb der deutschen Männerbewegung griff unter anderem das Blog Offene Flanke das Video auf. Interessant zu lesen ist hier auch der Kommentarstrang unter dem Blogbeitrag. Im Gegensatz zu den Scharen deutscher Journalisten entging den Kommentatoren einen merkwürdig rassistischer Unterton des Videos nicht, den auch die Feministin Hanna Rosin anspricht (die davon abgesehen das Video aber selbstverständlich für bare Münze nimmt). Tatsächlich könnte das Video von jeder rechten Website dafür verwendet werden zu illustrieren, dass Einwanderer für "unsere" Frauen hochproblematisch wären.

Außerhalb der Männerbewegung erhält das umstrittene Video in Torsten Heinrichs Blogbeitrag Der wahre Skandal am 10 Stunden in New York Video eine kritische Würdigung.

Im Daily Caller erklärt derweil Amenna Schelling, warum sie dieses Video für wenig glaubhaft hält. Ich werde Schelling hier ausführlich zitieren, da der Link zum Daily Caller bei mir bizarrerweise weder über Google Chrome noch Mozialla Firefox, sondern allein über den Explorer öffnet:

Many liberals have claimed this is definitive proof that all American women face routine harassment and are daily victims of a patriarchal culture. However, as a woman, I have some serious issues with this video — and the crusade the feminist left is trying to rally behind it.

First, I have never seen or experienced anything bordering on the "harassment" liberal women claim to experience. Even accounting for the fact I could just be unattractive [ihrem Foto nach ist sie das keineswegs], I find it mind-boggling that women are pushed to complain about such a widespread, visceral issue that I have never seen. Aside from the occasional compliment on the street, I have never seen aggressive catcalling. I have rarely had unwelcome advances. I have never felt anything but absolutely safe — a feeling backed by a recent Thomson Reuters survey that named New York’s subway system the safest out of the world’s top capitals.

I’ve lived and worked in Philadelphia and D.C., and spent enough time in New York (including the neighborhoods visited in the video) to have been exposed to any issues there. I have walked by myself late at night, taken public transportation, and spent my share of time in bars and nightclubs and other places where people aren’t always on their best behavior. I can’t say I dress modestly. And in nearly 25 years I’ve experienced a grand total of two — yes, two — negative experiences, which I only remembered because I was racking my brain for examples.

(...) If you watch the video, you’ll see that it plays fast and loose with what’s considered offensive. I would never count someone wishing me a good day or telling me I was pretty as harassment — simply because I don’t indulge the feminist fairy tale that every interaction a man has with me is tainted by patriarchal oppression. Most of the phrases in the video are just harmless ways for men to respectfully show their interest or, in the case of older generations, just — gasp — be polite.

It takes someone with a caricature of Victorian feminine sensibilities to file "Have a nice day" under sexual harassment. Even if there are sexual undertones to wishing a beautiful woman a good day, or telling her she’s pretty, such remarks are a perfectly respectful way to show interest. She can take it or leave it, and while there are a few inevitable creeps in the video, the other 98 percent or so of the men just left it at that.

(...) And herein lies the hypocrisy of the liberal view on sexuality. For all the left’s talk of making every traditional sexual vice a laudable family model, they seem to be Germanically opposed to every facet of traditional male-female sexuality. You can be as outlandish and outspoken as you like about being gay, using sex toys, having an open marriage, loving BDSM, and any other previously private sexually outlying activity you might enjoy. You’ll be praised and uplifted for embracing your sexuality. But being a straight guy and verbalizing your appreciation for a woman gets you the same reaction as if you’d tried to rape her.

Like it or not, conventional sexuality and the male-female interactions that ensue are conventional for a reason; it’s how we’re designed to propagate the human race. But the problem with modern women’s advocacy is that, even while maintaining women are the same as men, they’ve turned a woman’s body into such a sacred space that commenting on a woman’s body, let alone being attracted to it, verges on sexual assault. They’re so intent on dismantling this supposed patriarchy that the very physical fact of having a penis and being hardwired to find women attractive is viewed as proof of your support of an oppressive society; your very chromosomes are an affront to women’s liberation.

As one friend put it, the left’s agenda isn’t just about making outlying sexualities acceptable and spreading tolerance. It’s about making conventional sexuality unacceptable so their own values have room to take the forefront. For all their talk about oppression and societal norms, the sexuality-driven left is worse than the system they think they’re replacing.

(...) As a straight woman, which I have every right to be, a guy telling me to have a good morning or telling me I’m pretty is always going to be accepted as a compliment. Even if it were to come from an unwanted source, I’d just brush it off and go about my day; because that’s what a polite, rational person does. I’m not going to go against my natural instinct and declare such statements offensive because the NOW mob is demanding I do so.

If sex is the first taboo issue brought up by this video, the second is race. I counted around 25 men "shamed" by this video. The vast majority were black, with a few that looked Hispanic. I only saw three white men — and their contributions included such horrifying comments as "Have a nice evening."

(...) The fact is, the liberal feminist left has a largely unfounded problem with black culture, or any culture that’s traditionally more expressive toward women, and to avoid mentioning race they’re pretending it’s a problem across the board. A culture that vocally expresses heterosexual attraction is affront to their Brave New World of inverted sexual norms. Note that they chose a curvy, vaguely ethnic woman to do their walk. I have a feeling they’d get different results if they chose a skinny, Waspish blonde.

(...) I personally see nothing wrong with a friendly greeting, even if there are sexual undertones. In today’s day and age, where we’re expected to shout every detail of our sexuality from the rooftops, I find it ridiculous that similar expressions of heterosexuality are supposed to be repressed. Men are perfectly welcome to compliment me if they see fit, and I am perfectly free to enjoy it. For all their talk about "staying out of the bedroom," I wish the left would just stay out of my daily life. And considering the feminist movement claims to stand for women’s strength and rationality and independence, they need to stop finding every last action of men so offensive. I, for one, refuse to be scared of men every time I leave my house.