Topic: Gender Equality
Stop signs for harassment
Kensington Market
Public art a ‘great’ way to change minds
By Luke Simcoe, Metro Toronto
A public-art project in Kensington Market is drawing attention to the issue of sexual harassment on Toronto’s streets.
The Street Talk Project debuted Thursday and features seven alternative street signs posted around the popular downtown neighbourhood.
“Having the signs within the landscape of Kensington Market will generate a lot of response and activity on social media. It’s about sparking a dialogue,’ said Christine Dewancker, one of the project’s co-ordinators.
All of the signs are also on display at the Whippersnapper Gallery on Dundas Street.
Dewancker said Kensington was chosen because it’s adjacent to two areas in Toronto – the Bay Street corridor and the University of Toronto – that report some of the highest rates of sexual violence.
“Public art is a great vehicle for talking about the lived experience in the city,” Dewancker said. “We wanted to touch on the relationship between public space and street harassment and how that kind of gender-based violence is felt differently in different places.”
The signs reference issues like cat-calling and the role by-standers can play in preventing sexual assault or harassment.
One sign, designed by Heather Scott, shows a phallic-shaped construction arrow with the caption “Your curve does not give you the right of way to cat-call.”
“Like most women, I have been subjected to verbal harassment from men and I have observed that they often radiate a sense of pride after yelling their opinion of my body at me,” Scott said. “I used this idea of men feeling that they have a right to behave this way and related it to a common street-sign term.”
The signs will be on display in the gallery and on the street until April 26. For more information, visit streettalkproject.com.
Published on Metro Toronto Newspaper, Weekend issue (April 17 – 19, 2015)
Topic: Gender Equality
Vocabulary
Verb Phrases
- To raise awareness
- To draw attention (to N)
- To spark a dialogue
- To be subjected to (N)
- To have a right to (V)
Noun Phrases
- a great vehicle for N
- cat-calling
- by-standers
- the right of way
Questions:
1.) What form of sexual harassment do Japanese media draw attention to?
2.) Is there any gender equality issue that sparked a dialogue among people in Japan?
3.) Men can also be subjected to sexual harassment. What kind of sexual harassment have you been subjected to?
4.) Do you agree that people have a right to say whatever they want? Why/why not?
5.) Do you think that this project using street sings would work in Japan? Why/why not?
Discussion Theme: Raising Awareness
1.) What is the difficulty of raising people’s awareness on sexual norms?
2.) What is the value or belief behind those sexual norms?
3.) How can arts contribute to raising awareness of social issues like sexual norms?
Topic: Gender Equality