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Home / Lifestyle

Woman's brilliant revenge on catcalling men

By Kirrily Schwarz
NZ Herald·
6 Oct, 2017 07:00 PM3 mins to read

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This woman has started a project detailing the objectification she faces every day. Photo / Instagram

This woman has started a project detailing the objectification she faces every day. Photo / Instagram

Noa Jansma, from the Netherlands, is a beautiful young woman - and she gets a lot of unwanted attention every time she steps out into the street.

The man in this photo, with his arm draped around her shoulders almost groping her chest, isn't a relative or a friend or a person she actually likes.

He's a random middle-aged person who catcalled her in the street as she walked past, yelling: "Hmmmm. You wanna kiss?"

View this post on Instagram

#dearcatcallers "hmmmm you wanna kiss?"

A post shared by dearcatcallers (@dearcatcallers) on Sep 14, 2017 at 8:32am PDT

The 20-year-old has made a powerful statement about sexual objectification during a month-long experiment on Instagram.

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Every time she gets harassed, she walks up to the offender and asks if she can take a selfie, which is then posted to her @dearcatcallers account.

"It's not a compliment," she declared.

"By making the selfie, both the objectifier and the object are assembled in one composition. Myself, as the object, standing in front of the catcallers represents the reversed power ratio which is caused by this project."

Since she began on August 29, she's posted 24 images of herself with men, listing the words they shouted at her in the caption.

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View this post on Instagram

#dearcatcallers "I know what I would do with you, baby"

A post shared by dearcatcallers (@dearcatcallers) on Sep 27, 2017 at 12:58pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

*honks at me 3 times with his scooter, approaches from behind and cuts off my way* "God bless, When I see you, all I get is wild thoughts, wild, Wild Thoughts!! Darling" *honks again 3 times* #dearcatcallers

A post shared by dearcatcallers (@dearcatcallers) on Sep 25, 2017 at 9:30am PDT

View this post on Instagram

#dearcatcallers "weheeee horny girl"

A post shared by dearcatcallers (@dearcatcallers) on Sep 21, 2017 at 4:11pm PDT

It's remarkable how many men are happy to smile and pose for her pictures, considering their creepy and downright offensive comments.

She claims a number of them actually followed her for a lengthy period, with one much older man even asking her to get into his car.

Others demanded to know why she wasn't smiling, and repeatedly called her "baby" or made kissing noises as she passed.

View this post on Instagram

slowly following me 2 streets shouting "sexy!" and "wanna come in my car?" #dearcatcallers

A post shared by dearcatcallers (@dearcatcallers) on Sep 13, 2017 at 10:37am PDT

View this post on Instagram

#dearcatcallers ... after following me for straight 10 minutes "sexy girl Where you goin'?? Can I come with you ?" ...

A post shared by dearcatcallers (@dearcatcallers) on Aug 29, 2017 at 6:33am PDT

In the past month, she's accumulated more than 42,500 followers - the vast majority of whom appear to be women who strongly support her project.

She said it's quite clear sexual objectification of women is a "global phenomenon", and though her project is finished, she plans to continue her account.

"Thankyou for all the support and messages," she wrote on her final post.

"It has made it clear that catcalling is still a common occurrence that many of us are dealing with."

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