Description
Book SynopsisIn Street Harassment as Everyday Violence, Melinda A. Mills investigates women’s experiences with street harassment, recognizing this phenomenon as a form of everyday violence. The author follows feminist scholars to consider the ways that silence can potentially, if only partially, protect women from verbally assaultive men who harass women in public. This violence both reveals and conceals itself in the discourses of silence about and during street harassment. It maps onto and reflects the web of violence that proves persistent and difficult to dismantle. This work operates as an initial intervention, by way of recognition of street harassment as a problem that hides in plain sight.
Trade ReviewIn Street Harassment as Everyday Violence, Mills examines the nature of unwanted communication from men directed toward women in public places from a feminist perspective. The author relies on both personal experience and her research involving in-depth interviews with 20 women to inform her analysis. Chapters cover the definition of street harassment, the relationship of unwanted communication to violence and rape culture, the concept of danger as it relates to women’s experiences and responses, and response strategies. The writing style is clear enough to be easily read by those with some undergraduate preparation, and the text is adequately referenced and indexed. This volume would be a good addition to libraries serving anthropology, psychology, social work, sociology, and women’s studies departments that seek expanded holdings in these areas. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.
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