Woman's post about being fed up of male harassment goes viral

Christen Brandt says women should not be expected to treat harassment as a compliment

A new story of being catcalled has gone viral (Facebook / Christen Brandt)

It turns out that women are harassed, whistled at and catcalled even when they wrap up warm on a winter’s day during the morning commute, and one woman has had enough of it.

Christen Brandt was wearing a scarf, long parka coat and boots as she went to work via a crowded subway station at 34th Street in New York, when a man said she had “great legs”. She ignored him and walked away, and the man turned around to follow her.

“Did you hear me, honey? I said you have nice legs. Damn! Thank you.”

Ms Brandt wrote on her Facebook page that she was “sick” of dealing with these kinds of comments, and should not be expected to treat unwanted attention as a compliment.

This is what I was wearing this morning as I made my way through a crowded 34th Street subway station, and a man passing...

Posted by Christen Brandt on Thursday, 28 January 2016

Her Facebook post has since gone viral, racking up over 77,600 likes and more than 42,000 shares.

“Next time you wonder whether your skirt is too short, next time you ask your teen daughter to change her clothes, or the next time you hear about school dress codes in the news, remember this photo,” Ms Brandt wrote.

Ms Brandt’s story is just one example of many incidents that happen every day. The “Everyday Sexism Project”, started by Laura Bates in the UK, serves as a database for women around the world who recount and share their own stories.

A video in October 2014 filmed by Hollaback! documented the journey of Shoshanna B. Roberts as she walked for 10 hours around New York City in a T-shirt and jeans - she was catcalled and harassed 108 times. The video went viral and has been watched over 41 million times.

Catriona Harvey-Janner wrote in a Cosmopolitan blog that she hoped Ms Brandt’s story would make a difference.

“Even if it only makes one would-be cat-caller think twice before he hounds a woman he doesn't know the first thing about; that's still one less woman who has to deal with unwanted harassment,” she said.