I’ve watched the viral “Harassment” video going around, where a woman is walking down the street and random men start talking to her, telling her she is beautiful.  I’ve also read some of the many articles and posts full of “expert” analysis on this video. I walked away thinking, “Why are so many people trying so hard to tell me what I should think and feel about this video?” I really don’t see a problem.  If you don’t think what she faced was harassment, I agree with you. If you don’t feel harassed when a man talks to you on the street, don’t allow someone else’s complex to become yours.

My news feed is blasted with article after article analyzing the video and explaining why “cat-calling” is a bad thing for women. Here’s my thought, if someone has to work to make me feel harassed AFTER the fact, the problem is theirs, not yours. The articles are written by people trying to sell women a “victim” label, and we don’t have to buy it.

When I saw the video, I thought, “Yep, this is the mating dance of humanity.” A man sees a woman whom he finds attractive, and he makes a move in the direction of connecting with that woman. Why wouldn’t he? That’s how we are designed to work. We all get together eventually. What is the problem?

Certainly don’t allow someone else to turn this into a melanin issue. Because that’s the other spin I see going around. The color-focused people took one look at that video and started counting the number of blacks and whites represented in it. Wasn’t it nice of the producers to add that part in at the end, writing that she experienced this “harassment” from people of “all backgrounds”? Of course, we didn’t see “all backgrounds” represented. So, they must have edited out all the white guys, right? What about the disabled men?

True story: I was walking down the street in NY when I heard a man’s voice yell out, “Girl you are so fine, please come over here and talk to me.” I smiled in the general direction but kept walking. That’s when I heard, “You aren’t gonna stop and talk to me? Ok… then, I’m going with you!” And I turned around to see a man with no legs pushing his wheel chair up the block to my location. He was grinning from ear to ear at me, and that made me smile too at the thought of him chasing me down the street in a wheel chair. He asked me if I had ever dated a man with no legs.  And then the conversation got dirty with him referencing his 3rd leg and all… so that was the end of the exchange. But the point is, flirting is a part of the mating dance. And someone out there, I’m sure, was attracted to his energy and he eventually met his *match*. I was not the one, so I walked away. But someone else found his energy irresistible and that is life.

So now, what is the takeaway from the “harassment” video? Are assertive women unable to handle assertive men? I have seen video of women in other countries where men physically assault women as they walk down the street. Women cover themselves for protection from men who cannot control their physical urges. But none of that happened in this video. The men in this video were just advertising themselves, offering a potential match to this woman. If you notice, she walked by many restaurants and stores that were also advertising their product to her. What of the restaurants who actually offer you food right there on the street so that you can sample their goods? I have rarely said “no” to that “harassment”. But now that I think about it… HOW DARE THEY! Don’t they know I’m on a diet?

This “harassment” video made me think of another video (equally as scandalous) on the mating dance of the birds of paradise. Check it out below. I particularly like the technique of the male bird at minute 1:32. But get your phone ready, because someone needs to tell the female bird of paradise that she is being “harassed” by that male bird! Let her know that she should feel victimized. Then quickly, call the ACLU!

You might also choose to notice that the male bird in this video has black feathers. You know what that means? Black feathers = black skin! Yep… the producers at BBC Planet Earth are racists! They must have edited out all of the male birds with white feathers…. and of course that bird in the wheelchair.