BLANK NOISE/D THIS PLACE- PARIS

From an 'ex- eveteaser'

1. Your - age- background
Age: 29
Software Engg

2. why do you refer to yourself as an ex 'eve teaser'. what did you do?
I have given up on eve teasing. I got introduced to you by narrating my story.

3. what is eve teasing to you- what was the range of things that you did
Mostly caressing the bottom or thighs in crowded places. Rubbing private parts against the butt.

4. when and why did you stop?
Because I was punished in public.

5. how do you approach a woman stranger now? if you find her attractive?
I am married now. So no question of approaching. I have lot of friends who are girls.

6. how did you hear about Blank Noise
When I was browsing regarding eve teasing.

7. did you discuss being an 'eve teaser' , strategies and ways with your male friends?
No I used to operate alone. To my friends I was a decent guy.

8. did anyone except the woman who experienced it, really know that you could violate someone?
No. I had a decent image.

9. do you feel that 'teasing' to an extent is ok? if yes then where do you draw the line?
No it is not acceptable in any form or shape.

The answers are not meant to be seen as absolutes or solutions. It is but 1 person's experience. I thank him for sharing.

Some of the others in the mass of people

Listen and read below

In conversation with some men on the streets of Delhi and Bangalore. These men were from across age groups 19- 65 and mostly from a mid income group or low income group. Some were tourist guides, some shop owners, auto rickshaw drivers, student union campaigner.


According to you, what kind of man sexually harasses or 'eve teases' women on the street?


"It's the impulsive type of guy that teases girls"

"It's the youth that eve teases girls on the street. Another person will treat her as his granddaughter or niece. If he calls for her on the street, he will perceive her as a family member".

"The guys who try to act smart are the ones that tease women. I don't know how to be smart or play cool..I am not like them".

"I am telling you. I am from a decent family. I don't do this kind of stuff. I go out to do my work and I come back home straight after that".

"The kind of guy that teases his sister will tease a woman on the street".

"It's the 3rd class or the middle class guy that harasses women".


What attracts you to a woman? what kind of woman? what about her? what do you do then?


" Her figure. Her body. If she has a good figure I am interested in sex, only sex. I am not interested in marriage".

" ...her hairstyle. her removing her hair from her face.."

" She should look fit. Others should find her attractive. Her body- her chest, hips...she should have a flat stomach, other parts of her figure should protrude. She should have nice hips".

" Clothes? I like women in sexy clothes".

" I remember she was wearing a pink colour suit, I remember her hair, I remember her make up, her eyes....I really wanted to approach her. I wanted my eyes to speak to her...and try to approach her".

" I like the simple and sober girls. The girl who wears a simple salwar suit and braids her hair. she should have long hair".

"...I gave her my mobile number and said that your incoming is free and my outgoing is free".

" ...I could sit down on my knees and let her know that she is the most beautiful girl in the world".

" I like foreigner girls".

" I do have a mother and a sister. I dont have a girlfriend or wife. 

   Will you be mine?"

For those of you familiar with how it works in India- the most frequently delivered line to an 'eve teaser' is- ghar mein maa behen nahin hai kya? Don't you have a mother or sister at home?


Credits to Ekta and Rajshekhar from Blank Noise who were instrumental to making this happen.

Prelude 1

Before we begin the 'Gent's Only' event we will be making publishing a few ideas that will hopefully bring to notice the range of men on the street.
For starters, we found this on youtube. Posted by someone called the 'missing agent'. This video has been called "Eve Teasing at the Party".

FUN?

And finally- ' Gent's Only' event at Blank Noise. Coming Soon!

2 out of 1000

Over the years we have figured that there are over 1000 ways in which you could build Blank Noise. For now, we propose 2.

Every Sunday, 2 projects will be shared at Blank Noise.

Blank Noise This Place and Blank Noise Action Heroes.

Both spaces are slowly building up with your participation. Thank you!

For those of you who are new to this:

Blank Noise This Place: We ask you to go to the place where you experienced street sexaul harassment'- photograph it and send it to us. Along with the photo send in an account of what exactly occurred and where.

We will upload all photographs at

 http://flickr.com/photos/blanknoisethisplace/

All photos will be tagged on a world map. 

Let's Blank Noise This Place!

Blank Noise Action Heroes: is a separate blog, an offshoot of Blank Noise. This place collects and builds stories of resistance. We ask you to share your strategy. How did you deal with street harassment? How did you fight or respond to it?

All Action Hero testimonials sent in by you will be uploaded at

http://blanknoiseactionheroes.blogspot.com

Who takes responsibility for uploads etc?

Every city has a 2 week rotating set of 'lead volunteers' who make this happen. They send emails, put in that 'extra' bit to ensure participation. Last few weeks have had Dana Roy , Sunayana Roy from Kolkata, Suparna Kudesia from Delhi, Amrutha Bhushan from Bangalore, Nabila Zaidi from Lucknow. We encourage Blank Noise members from each city to sign up as lead volunteers towards both online events. Hope to hear from you soon!

I am prepared and I use both my hands to push him away.

extends his hand to grab

I start walking faster

I could no longer hear his steps behind me

I tapped his shoulder firmly

Too bad he tried to mess with the wrong girl

I went to the Ice cream parlor close by to get my cousins a tub of butterscotch.

I would look “ugly”, “unwanted”, and “undesirable”

UNWANTED

REPORTING UNWANTED INTERACTIONS

UNWANTED 1

UNWANTED 2

UNWANTED 3

UNWANTED 4

UNWANTED 5

UNWANTED 6

UNWANTED 7

UNWANTED 8

UNWANTED 9

UNWANTED 10

Also see:
http://blog.blanknoise.org/2008/01/cars-number-plates-harassers-unwanted.html

BLANK NOISE/D THIS PLACE

Watch out for this place every Sunday morning.

To participate revisit the site where you experienced sexual intimidation in public, photograph it and send us the picture with an anecdote. I

f you would like to participate in getting people from your city involved in Blank Noise This Place, do let us know by writing in at blurtblanknoise at gmail.com

Lead volunteers on a rotating basis. Current volunteers include:
Suparan Kudesia- Delhi, Nabila Zaidi- Lucknow, Sunayana Roy- Kolkata, Amruth Bhushan - Bangalore and Varsha Chandwani- Mumbai

SEND ME YOUR PHOTO: TO EVERY BLANK NOISE SUPPORTER/ VOLUNTEER/ MEMBER

This goes out to any one that has been involved with Blank Noise in any way-

be it online support and participation, street interventions, documentation, research, performance / other An all new Blank Noise Volunteers Flickr Album is finally up and running! Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blanknoise/ Saptarshi Chakrabarty and Purba Sarkar from Blank Noise Kolkata have set it up and are managing the flickr album. Please note that we are in process of setting this up and not even half way through- thousands of people have volunteered so far but the flickr album has only 200 photographs-

• If you do not find your photograph please let us know.
• If you have never physically met with the Blank Noise Team but been an online participant, we would love to receive a photo from you.
• If you don't want a photo- any visual that symbolizes you- a comic, a plant, a logo- send it in!
• There have also been non blogging, non internet participants - such as parents who may have participated in Blank Noise events- please send us their details as well.
• If its NOT OKAY with you to have your picture in the album, we will remove it.

Please inform us at the earliest by mailing in at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com. Or if you would like to send a picture to include in the album, you can do that too.

Please add in details such as blog address, city you are writing in from, what you do/ profession/ occupation, and how you participated in Blank Noise. Mail in at blurtblanknoise at gmail.com subject titled 'your name + photo' We hope that you will write in as soon as you can. From the rest of us at the Blank Noise Team