BLANK NOISE: March 2006

15.3.06

Thank You

We cannot thank you enough

The last week has been an online mass catharsis, with over 200 bloggers building testimonies of eve teasing online. Private has collectively become public , with people from all over the world testifying, speaking, debating, screaming, sharing their experience with the issue of street sexual harassment/ ‘ eve teasing’.

We are still in the process of going through all the blogs and replying to the deluge of emails. Many have written in saying that they would like to help.

We are open to ideas about how you think you can initiate Blank Noise in your city. Please write to us, with the subject titled ‘ IDEA’ our email address is
blurtblanknoise@gmail.com

We are open to ideas both online and offline, practical and impossible.

We look forward to your mail.

Blank Noise is co ordinated in Delhi by Hemangini, in Mumbai by Chinmayee and in Bangalore by Jasmeen. The Delhi and Mumbai initiative is very new and we look forward to building a team of volunteers.

Having said that we would like to add that you could be in any city, town, country: our only participation criteria is your individual commitment.

Our current plan of action:

To define the term ‘eve teasing’
To question the meaning of modesty

1. “Did You Ask For it?"
The clothes campaign challenges the notion of modesty. When ‘eve-teased’ or sexually harassed in a public space, the first general reaction is that women ‘ask for it’; that she wore something provocative which led to the event. At Blank Noise we are collecting clothes that women wore when they were eve teased so that we can collectively defy the assumption that ‘ WOMEN ASK FOR IT”.

Deadline: In 3 months we want a minimum of 1000 clothes installed on our city streets.

-You could be a volunteer/ on a mission to collect clothes in your city. You could organize groups of people to collect clothes.

2. Performative interventions: individuals or groups who would like to intervene and be a work with us on the performance from their city.

3. Opinion Poll (India):

“What does eve teasing mean? Is there a definition? Is staring eve teasing?”

To answer that question we are conducting public opinion polls across different cities to achieve a public consensus on the definition of eve teasing. Through this we want to establish eve teasing as a sexual crime; and make it public.

4. Online work: ( technical)

www.blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com always welcomes technical support, writing, ideas on making the blank noise website, ideas on interactivity etc.

5. Campaigns:

You could also get involved with our campaigns on the media front. Here we are looking for designers, people with a marketing background, artists etc to work with appropriate media, both alternative and mainstream. (We are looking at local, national and online campaigns.)

Get out now and get it started!

thanks!

7.3.06

the spill

" WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

“ You are not looking decent, I mean you are looking fat, you are not looking very nice, I think you should change."

“ It does not suit you, this dress does not suit you.”

“ Wear what you want! You just want to be leched at right?”

“ Gosh! Look at her, she’s so cheap, why does she bother wearing anything, she would rather be naked.”

“ Dressed like a slut man! Total slut!”

“ Lipstick? I think it’s too much. People will think you’re a slut!”

“ But I was wearing something completely normal and it had frills on the top.”

“ Tie your hair. You must look neat.”

“ Please wear a slip over the bra. Your school uniform is transparent. It does not look nice.”

“ The skirt is too short. You can wear shorts if you like, but not a skirt.”

“ How come you wear only salwar kameez these days?”

“ I was in school, I remember my green pt uniform and the stranger in the bus put his dirty hands in my clothes.”

“ I started dressing more androgynous. People didn’t know whether I was man or woman.”

“ I wear what I want, nothing happens to me, I don’t know why you make such an issue out of this, I mean , why do you want to travel by bus anyways?”

“ This girl is crazy! She is screaming!”

“ Don’t talk back! Don’t you dare answer back!”

“ It was just an accident.”

“ “ What law can stop a man from talking to a woman? Take me to the police station, let me see what anyone can do. I just asked you out for coffee”

“ I think you are beautiful. I have two eyes. I will stare at you.”

“ Why do you look at them in the eyes. Best is to look down and walk. Avoid it.”

“ I carry a safety pin.”

“ I put my huge knapsack in front of me and walk in peace.”

“ But it was only a crush. I was staring at you because it was a crush.”

“ Please don’t do this to me, I am a father of two children. I am sorry I wont do it again.”

“ I am allergic to women in pants. It is against our culture.”

“I have a dupatta?”

I ask for it because I have a body with breasts that I should feel ashamed of?

I ask for it because you think there are good girls and bad girls, decent girls and indecent girls?

I ask for it because you think I am attractive?

Eve teasing it is, a joke, a prank that designs, shapes, structures our daily lives:

Who we are, where we go, what we wear, how we sit, stand, talk, walk in our very own cities. When we demand the need to make our cities non threatening , I don’t expect anyone to think of me as their sister or mother, but to really look at women as citizens who have every right to be out on the streets, without any explanation. Sometimes we just love to walk, stand around, hang around, without looking ‘avaliable.’

Blank Noise Blog-a-thon participants 2006