[Administrator Post] Reflecting on the Workshops

Editor's Note: This week features a reflection from Blair Hotchner, an administrator who has worked on The Window Sex Project since inception. Here she talks about her summer workshop experiences, as we plan upcoming workshops during International Anti-Street Harassment Week, March 18-24. I most appreciate her analysis of the movement creation portion of the workshop, that really sets this project a part from other anti-street harassment endeavors. As well, as her acknowledgement of the work shops as a safe space for adult women to share wisdom, concerns and experiences.

This summer I worked as the project manager for The Window Sex Project, a community workshop for women designed to address street harassment. Much of the work I did was behind the scenes, organizing and managing. My position gave me a kind of “fly on the wall” perspective. There were three workshops at three different Harlem locations. Each space had a different vibe and different people that affected the overall feel of the event.

Our first event in June was at the Grosvenor YMCA. The group was smaller which lent itself to a more intimate informal experience. During the discussion I was the only one who was a native New Yorker and I talked about be a pre-teen and teenager growing up in an environment with street harassment. Hearing about other people experiences and how they had to adapt their behavior when they moved to the city was eye opening for me.

During the second workshop at Barnard College, I made a point to watch the movement portion - the most unique aspect of our workshop. We ask the participants, mostly non-dancers with little to no performing experience, to translate their personal stories of street harassment into choreography. One instance that stood out to me was a section created by two women. One woman walked and the other stopped her mid-stride, looked her up and down, rearranged her limbs, and looked her up and down again before letting her continue to walk.
The concept was so simple but it was done with such a strong purpose. It captured a feeling I know so clearly, that it took my breath away. It was a moment that came up many times in all the discussions: when you are just walking down the street trying to get from point A to point B and have another person say something to you or about you, completely unwarranted, and it affects you for the rest of the day.

So much of the movement that was created by participants was raw yet captivating. It was direct and secure in what it was saying and not caught up in the being over technical or needing to be universally understood. I really appreciated the movement created that day for that reason.

The third event was at the Harlem School of the Arts. We had three strong speakers and a large mix of women attending the event. As the discussion was going on I thought back to so many conversations I had with my friends as a teenager about street harassment. We were simply a group of girls with a shared experience trying to gain insight on something that happened on an everyday basis. The workshop discussion had the same feel, but as grown women the discussion was more in-depth. The question of why was more prevalent. Participants discussed the concept of street harassment being a learned behavior and looking to teach the next generation and even re-teaching our peers. Also addressed were mixed feelings about the attention and concern about being rude or
standoffish and a simply desire of how to deal with it.

The similarities between the conversations I had as a young girl, and at the workshop are something I think made the event so impactful. The workshop took a topic that I mostly discussed in a small group with apprehension, to a public forum without changing the comfort of being amongst friends.