Sexual Harassment

Before the spring semester ended a few months ago, my university conducted a study abroad orientation session where they warned us about culture shock and gave us tips on transitioning into another living situation. They spoke about experiencing a ‘honeymoon’ period in the country followed by a period of ‘hostility’ after which a person comes to terms with the new society until it eventually feels like home.
One aspect of Jordanian culture I am currently hostile to is the long stares and comments women (white women and Jordanians wearing hijab alike) get while simply walking down the street. The impression I received from travel guidebooks and CIEE study abroad information was that, as long as one dressed respectfully in deference to local mores men on the street would leave you alone. So I was surprised when even wearing long sleeve button up shirts and pants I would receive comments of “pretty girl” or “hey duck.” Or when walking in a small group of women we heard young men making kissing noises as we passed.
Today I was privileged enough to see a film made a local Jordanian woman filmmaker debunking and challenging catcalling in the street. The filmmaker had made a short investigative documentary with excellent cinematography and post-production that spoke to taxi drivers and other young men who catcall women in the street almost as a hobby. She searched for the rational behind making unwelcome advances to women in the street, taped enthusiastic arguments with people who found this practice acceptable, spoke to lawyers about the legal parameters of harassment in Jordan and concluded with a strong feminist challenge to objectifying women.
Our program’s friendly resident director interpreted this film as both an indication that Jordanian culture, while hierarchical and often patriarchal, is dynamic and at least small segments of it challenge the prevailing convention wisdom that women belong in the home and therefore can be harassed in the street. Many others in our group felt reassured that sexual harassment in Jordan rarely, if ever, goes beyond an annoying comment in the street.
What bothers me most is not the occasional chauvinistic comment or honk of a car’s horn made by some jerk but the far more common long, objectifying stares I get from men as I walk down the street. In actuality, demeaning or annoying comments made to women in Jordan are rather infrequent compared to many, many other places in the world like Italy or Morocco. Essentially I have concluded that treating women as objects is angering, not matter where in the world you are. Now, in some small act of challenging this practice, when I feel a man giving me an uncomfortably long stare I don’t just ignore it or brush it off or skulk off insignificantly—I stare back.