Why You Wanna Go and Ask That Now, Huh?

Pretty regularly, we receive a similar question from reporters and other members of the media inquiring about the work of HollaBack. While we know and respect that most journalism seeks to preempt the general questions of the public, we're always surprised when the following continuously pops up:

"Couldn't an angry girl send you a photo of her ex-boyfriend saying that he was a street harasser?"

When asked this question we respond with the usual - as you can see, the pictures on the site don't exactly depict discernible individuals; each story clearly describes an encounter with a stranger; and most importantly, it has never been our experience - nor that of any other HollaBack site that we know of - to receive such a submission.

What's bothering us lately about this issue, though, is the presumption that women would "use" the site for this purpose. What evidence do we have that when given a forum to empower themselves and respond to systematic subordination of themselves in the public space, women will abuse that forum for their own revenge? Why is it so hard for us to trust the experiences of women who have been harassed - or raped - or people of color, or members of other marginalized groups as truth?

It seems quite clear to us that this sort of presumption is exactly in line with a patriarchal society that prioritizes men's experience, contributions, and existence over that of a woman's or a person of any other gender; a society where men, on the whole, are given the benefit of the doubt, and women, for the most part, are suspect.

We look forward to the day that journalists remove this presumptuous inquiry from their questioning and simply see HollaBack as a safe space to build solidarity with others and seek refuge from an increasingly threatening society.