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Joanna Sanchez
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
1 December 2014
A Matter of Freedom of Speech or Rights
A woman walks down the street in the beautiful city of New York wearing her favorite
heels, a skirt and a long sleeved blouse on her way to work. Then men start whistling, asking her
for her number, calling her babe and telling her to smile. The next day she decides to take a
different route, itll take her longer to arrive to work but she believes its best to disregard the
men, however the same occurrences happen. The following day she decides to wear a different
style in clothing, the problem persists and the men even follow her for various minutes. These
occurrences happen to too many women and are reported on a daily basis but the government
fails to resolve the problem. Although some disagree on the point that creating a law that implies
how a man should speak to a woman would violate the point of the First Amendment and create
further consequences, I believe that there should be laws regarding the police being further
involved into all of the harassment building up.
Men choose to stare, whistle and say inappropriate comments, they give unwanted
attention and women deserve more respect. In the view of Holly Kearl, founder and author of
Stop Street Harassment she opposes her view by stating, We dont need laws to prohibit mild
verbal harassment...Instead, through awareness campaigns, in schools, communities and on
public transit, we can enforce the message... Although I agree on the point that harassment is a
situation that needs to be taken care of I still maintain that laws would be, by far, the most

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successful way of stopping cat-calling. The use of awareness campaigns, will only inform of the
wrongdoings of harassment, and through common knowledge, civilized people already know
harassment is wrong and the men harassing the women believe their comments are not harmful
or are just careless to think about how their behavior affects women. There are numerous
campaigns that attempt to stop problems but never succeed because not enough effort is put
into them and the problems only persist. There are signs and other types of illustrations displayed
in public places describing how harassment, violence and other controversial issues are
unacceptable but when help is asked for, police officials don't see it significant enough to help
these people and dismiss the problem, therefore these types of problems remain.
Women are harassed every day, some are accustomed to it and others ask for help and are
neglected. These dilemmas happen because the government fears that by creating laws on such a
controversial topic that might impose on the freedom of speech, it would create more problems
in society. Although some disagree on the fact that a law should be made to prevent harassment
from occurring because it inflicts the first Amendment, some prove the point that by not
formulating such a law can affect a woman's freedom of rights from the fact that they are
allowing men to control their lives to prevent cat-calling. From this point of view on one of its
main supporters, Laura Beth Nielson, a professor of sociology at Northwestern University, states
that by creating a law It would allow states and cities to recognize street harassment for what it
is: Physical and Psychological acts that...reinforce the male dominance over women. Women
get oppressed every day by men and are forced to change their appearance and routes of travel,
they live in pure fear and disappointment not only from the mens harassment but also from the
government's ignorance in helping them.

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In contrast, many think that inventing a law that suppresses harassment would make
matters worse. As Gabe Rottman, a Policy Advisor with the American Civil Liberties Unions
Washington Legislative office states, Extending disorderly conduct laws to unwanted verbal
interactions would amplify the potential for misuse. Rottman strongly believes that by creating
such regulations would create bias towards those who dont believe they are doing any harm and
create other problems within society for the people that believe that harassment is a minor
problem. The potential for anyone to press charges because they were verbally harassed even in
such situations where harassment was not implied, can create such problems. Although I
conceive that other problems can arise from creating such legislations, I still maintain that, by
enforcing a law on cat-calling, such problems in accordance to that can be controlled.
Women are harassed and oppressed by men, they are forced to change themselves to
avoid attraction from men. Such things should not occur, by doing so women are being
prevented from their freedom. Tatyana Fazlalizeth, a visual artist, also agrees on the point that
women want to be treated as people who are outside because we have lives to live and business
to handle-not as decoration. Women like men, live daily lives and have responsibilities of their
own that they cant perform because men dont allow them to from the drastic harassment being
placed upon them. They are not treated as human beings who prefer to be told good morning,
have a great day rather than an attractive subject that men can whistle at. Although men claim
they would be prevented their freedom of speech simply because they would no longer be
capable of disrespecting women-women are prevented from their freedom of rights and behavior
every time they are harassed.
Rather than being careless about these situations because they dont necessarily occur in
an area, they occur to innocent women, sisters, mothers, and daughters in other areas. These

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women get followed for long periods of time, feel uncomfortable walking, and are scared to do
simple daily tasks simply because men feel the need to yell and whistle. Though many
occurrences, nothing will stop them because they dont care that what theyre doing is wrong.
Committees and other sources of awareness, will not change unless men know there will be
consequences from their shameful behavior. Society needs to change but to change society one
must contribute and have enough supporting evidence to create the change. All of the evidence is
clear, women speak but aren't heard. Therefore, although some disagree on the point that by
creating a law with such impact on civil rights, I still maintain that men are in the need of
realization that women are their own people, not objects they can disrespect and only with the
creation of a new legislation for the prevention of verbal harassment, will men finally understand
their flaws with cat-calling. It will be the end of harassment.

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Works Cited
Fazlalizadeh, Tatyana. Telling Our Stories to Change the Culture of Harassment. New York
Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 31 October 2012. Web. 13
November 2014.
Kearl, Holly. Fight Street Harassment With Training, Awareness and Legal Action When
Fitting. New York Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 31 October
2012. Web. 13 November 2014.
Nielsen, Laura Beth. Street Harassment Law Would Restrict Intimidating Behavior. New York
Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, November 3 2014. Web. 13
November 2014.
Rottman, Gabe. Legislating Catcalling Comes With Real Risks. New York Times: Room for
Debate. New York Times Company, 31 October 2014. Web. 13 November 2014.