(In ref to the previous post asking people to discard clothes that they wore when they felt sexually threatened by actually sending it to the blank noise project.)
There were several prompt responses to the idea of gathering clothes as testimonies.
2 MONTHS LATER:
I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY CLOTHES.
some of the responses are below...
“I would really like to see this project grow. Though I cannot give you material support, being in Europe and not having (luckily) had any trouble in that direction whatsoever, I give you all my moral support for the brilliant idea.
I got followed a few weeks ago between Headingly and Hyde Park (about a mile of lamp lit street, quite a main road).It was about 9 pm at night. Again I was wearing the same red rain mac(it was spitting-true British weather), with a huge hood so you couldn't see my face. I couldn't particually hear much around me with the hood muffling the street sounds.I WOULD NEVER WALK AT NIGHT WITH HEADPHONES ON, LISTING TO MUSIC.I like to hear what's around me. I was wearing a short denim shirt with red tights and flat knee high boots. I wasn't 'strutting' my stuff. I was marching so fast with authority. The man asked me where I was going and....."Did I have any business tonight?"
Once I was on a day-train going to my grandmother’s and the train was really half empty. There was a middle aged man sitting in front of me and staring at me. He did that for a while, then he felt more confident and started masturbating.
I wasn’t wearing anything that could have provoked him either…
So it is…here in Europe!
This man kept asking me, “so are you from Spain?" i said no." Are you Italian?""no"" are you French"I kept walking faster and kept saying no....finallyhe asked if I was Indian....I said yes and I walked ahead.A week later I went to a university to use their library. I bumped into this very same person. He was a professor there.it was a very strange experience. I still don’t know what his intentions were. I only know that a similar experience in India would lead to a more drastic reaction....things like that are not culturally accepted here..
I'll keep my clothes till you decide. Then I’ll decide whether they can be part of theexhibition. They’re a favourite pair of pants and a tshirt, and I’m not ready to spit them out yet. Thememory you said was in the clothes is not such that Ineed to purge them of something. If anything, they'repart of a powerful experience, in which i retaliated,humiliated the perpetrator, created some awareness. Many of my young cousins (I’m almost 40) were prettythrilled and inspired.
i beat up a guy on brigade rd a couple of months> >ago. he towered over me and I’m sure my blows didn't> >physically hurt him, but I’m sure that a) he was> >embarrassed b) he'll think twice about elbowing a> >woman in the chest again.
Every time I allege misbehavior, I hear everyone pouncing to say, you asked for it.>>Rather my breasts teased the men, my hips invited their *fucking* hands, my eyes beaconed, and my dress was the open invitation--or so it is made out.
Yes, i have been a victim to this, but have not myself provoked the same with attire I was wearing at that point.
I 'm in France, how can I contribute to your project, are you interested by images or new text to print on some clothes?Tell me.
I was thinking about your project and wondered about something. If people discard the clothes they wore when they experienced any sort of abuse, it is tantamount to them saying it happened because of self clothes. It seems to take the focus away from the perpetrator and onto self.0
There were several prompt responses to the idea of gathering clothes as testimonies.
2 MONTHS LATER:
I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY CLOTHES.
some of the responses are below...
“I would really like to see this project grow. Though I cannot give you material support, being in Europe and not having (luckily) had any trouble in that direction whatsoever, I give you all my moral support for the brilliant idea.
I got followed a few weeks ago between Headingly and Hyde Park (about a mile of lamp lit street, quite a main road).It was about 9 pm at night. Again I was wearing the same red rain mac(it was spitting-true British weather), with a huge hood so you couldn't see my face. I couldn't particually hear much around me with the hood muffling the street sounds.I WOULD NEVER WALK AT NIGHT WITH HEADPHONES ON, LISTING TO MUSIC.I like to hear what's around me. I was wearing a short denim shirt with red tights and flat knee high boots. I wasn't 'strutting' my stuff. I was marching so fast with authority. The man asked me where I was going and....."Did I have any business tonight?"
Once I was on a day-train going to my grandmother’s and the train was really half empty. There was a middle aged man sitting in front of me and staring at me. He did that for a while, then he felt more confident and started masturbating.
I wasn’t wearing anything that could have provoked him either…
So it is…here in Europe!
This man kept asking me, “so are you from Spain?" i said no." Are you Italian?""no"" are you French"I kept walking faster and kept saying no....finallyhe asked if I was Indian....I said yes and I walked ahead.A week later I went to a university to use their library. I bumped into this very same person. He was a professor there.it was a very strange experience. I still don’t know what his intentions were. I only know that a similar experience in India would lead to a more drastic reaction....things like that are not culturally accepted here..
I'll keep my clothes till you decide. Then I’ll decide whether they can be part of theexhibition. They’re a favourite pair of pants and a tshirt, and I’m not ready to spit them out yet. Thememory you said was in the clothes is not such that Ineed to purge them of something. If anything, they'repart of a powerful experience, in which i retaliated,humiliated the perpetrator, created some awareness. Many of my young cousins (I’m almost 40) were prettythrilled and inspired.
i beat up a guy on brigade rd a couple of months> >ago. he towered over me and I’m sure my blows didn't> >physically hurt him, but I’m sure that a) he was> >embarrassed b) he'll think twice about elbowing a> >woman in the chest again.
Every time I allege misbehavior, I hear everyone pouncing to say, you asked for it.>>Rather my breasts teased the men, my hips invited their *fucking* hands, my eyes beaconed, and my dress was the open invitation--or so it is made out.
Yes, i have been a victim to this, but have not myself provoked the same with attire I was wearing at that point.
I 'm in France, how can I contribute to your project, are you interested by images or new text to print on some clothes?Tell me.
I was thinking about your project and wondered about something. If people discard the clothes they wore when they experienced any sort of abuse, it is tantamount to them saying it happened because of self clothes. It seems to take the focus away from the perpetrator and onto self.0
