The Hilarious Brilliance Of #DudesGreetingDudes, The Anti-Street Harassment Hashtag

Trending
Sup, man!? Credit: Thinkstock

Sup, man!? Credit: Thinkstock

Kelley Calkins

Street harassment. So hawt right now. Both in that daily occurrence way (if you’re a woman out walking around, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that) but also, currently, as a topic in the media. And I intentionally use the term "topic" although others actually have the audacity to use the term “debate.” There are those, like author Steve Santagati (spoiler alert: He's a straight white guy), who assert that women are/would be into street harassment if they were attracted to the men catcalling them. He also claimed, in his ludicrous, mansplain-erific interview on CNN this weekend that: “There is nothing more that a woman loves to hear [than] how pretty she is.” Also that women should be "strong" and leave New York if they can't "take it."

And if you spend any time at all online (or, you know, on the street), such sentiments are, crushingly, everywhere. Men are decrying from their social media soapboxes that they simply "don't want to live in a world where they can't 'just say HI'!" The fact that women continuously shout from their own proverbial rooftops that they don't feel safe because of street harassment and are uncomfortable literally just moving through the world doesn't, apparently, matter. Even when women die for turning down men's advances. Even in the face of the tireless activism of those like Feminista Jones and her #YouOkSis anti-harassment campaign, which highlights the devastating and dehumanizing experiences of innumerable women.

Men, apparently, "just want to say hi."

Right.

To skewer that nonsensical and offensive claim is the brilliant and hilarious Elon James White—comedian, writer and founder/CEO of TWiB! Media.

Joining forces with the #NotJustHello trending hashtag, enter his addition: #DudesGreetingDudes:

These women don't get it. Y'all just want to say hi. What's wrong with hi?!?! So let's just leave them out completely. #DudesGreetingDudes

The hashtag gets to the heart of the matter, which he aptly captures in a few other tweets:

And these excellent examples capture the same sentiment—just with a bit of incisive humor:

And of course, others have offered up their own examples, fueling the hashtag's hilarity and, hopefully, raising at least a smidge more awareness and critical thought on the pervasive issue:

The thunderous applause from women who support this campaign demonstrates that men can catalyze smiles on the faces of women they don't know—ignoring our plight and ordering us to grin just isn't the way to do it.

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#dudesgreetingdudes
TWiB
Elon James White
street harassment
youoksis
sexism
catcalling
harassment

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