This woman took selfies with her catcallers to prove an important point

Twitter

If you’re a woman living in the world today, chances are you’ve been catcalled on the street before. The experience can be unsettling, to say the least. No one should have to deal with unwanted and lewd remarks when they’re just trying to live their life.

Still, it’s a common occurrence for many. Don’t believe us? One young woman has taken to social media to prove a point about the prevalence of catcalling.

Noa Jansma, 20, is studying design in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Fed up with being constantly harassed while simply trying to walk down the street, Jansma decided to document her experiences. For one month, she took selfies with the men who catcalled her and posted them to Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZBs7Ayl9ZF/

“#dearcatcallers “hmmmm you wanna kiss?” she captioned the above photo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY8upBwloCa/

“Classic 2.0 “psssst, whoooooop, Can he have your number?” #dearcatcallers,” reads the caption of the above photo.

Jansma says she was inspired to take the powerful photos when she realized that many of her male classmates were incredulous that the problem of catcalling was still a big problem in today’s society. “We were talking about this topic in class. I realized that half of the class, the women, knew what I was talking about and lived it on a daily basis. And the other half, the men, didn’t even think that this is still happening. They were really surprised and curious. Some of them even did not believe me,” she tells BuzzFeed News.

Jansma managed to capture 24 instances of catcalling during her month-long experiment. She says that while she was initially fearful of how the men would react to her taking their photos, she realized most of them did not realize that their behavior was insulting or unwanted. “But most of them have their thumbs up, they’re happy because they honestly think that they’re complimenting me. They really didn’t care about me. They never realized I was unhappy,” she says.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYrVnV1FUY1/

Though she’s since stopped taking the pictures, Jansma hopes that her project will inspire other women to do the same, to continue to draw attention to this important issue. “I’m not the subject. The subject is catcalling. I also want to show that this happens around the world. But I want to make sure that responsible women do it, because what I do is a bit risky,” she says.

We’re glad this brave young woman has shone a light on such a disturbing phenomenon that affects so many women around the world. To see the full scope of what she captured during that month, check out her Instagram feed.

Life

Related posts

Back to the Future cast selfie
'Back to the Future' cast gets together at Fan Expo and shares a ton of selfies
Can I take a selfie with my ballot?
Your kid will love taking selfies with these durable children's cameras
Company makes custom 'selfie' masks that look like your face

About the Author
Kate Streit
Kate Streit lives in Chicago. She enjoys stand-up comedy, mystery novels, memoirs, summer and pumpkin spice anything.

From our partners