Women of color respond to viral catcalling video

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Collier Meyerson has recently produced a video for Jezebel in response to a viral catcalling video released last week. Meyerson’s video presents another side to catcalling, particularly for women of color. The original video was criticized for only showing a white woman’s experiences, while also seemingly omitting advances and catcalls from white males.

The producer of the original video Rob Bliss tried to explain the apparent oversights on Reddit, writing, “We got a fair amount of white guys, but for whatever reason, a lot of what they said was in passing, or off camera.”

Meyerson, however, decided to create her own video, cataloging a different group of women’s experience with catcalling. Meyerson said the purpose of her video wasn’t meant to stir up controversy. “The point here isn’t to devalue or minimize the experience of women who strongly identified with this video,” Meyerson said. “It’s to open the conversation.”

One of the women featured in the new video said, “[The first video] reinforces so many specific stereotypes about men—and black men in particular. And I feel like that’s kind of missing from the discussions.”

Another woman said, “A compliment [from white men harassing me on the street] isn’t simply ‘you’re beautiful,’ it has something do with my skin color, or my name, or ‘where are you from?’ I find that’s a form of harassment because it makes me feel like my difference is interesting to them, and that creeps me out a lot more.”

The five minute video can be found on Jezebel.

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