Recently in the news: a construction sign suggesting that the construction workers are going to harass passers-by.
1. I think it's unfair to the workers to make them work behind a sign like that. Essentially, they're forcing the workers to work all day behind a sign labelling them as "Hi, I'm so pathetic I can't even handle the normal everyday situation of seeing someone of the opposite sex walk by!" That is a massive insult to the many many many construction workers who are perfectly capable of conducting themselves like normal human beings. If I were a worker in this situation, I'd be protesting the signage and also looking for another job.
2. Some people have complained that the sign was taken down, saying that the complainers lack a sense of humour. I think this is beside the point, because the sign is essentially advertising. Its point is "We'll have new stuff here soon! Check back and see what it is!" In essence, the purpose of the sign is to make its audience want to come back. But, in reality, the sign is making some of its audience want to stay away, because it gives them the feeling that the space is less safe than they thought it was. So regardless of whether the sign is actually funny (although, as John Cleese has pointed out, a piece of humour is only funny when the audience thinks it's funny), it is counterproductive as a piece of advertising. If the tool you're using is making things worse, you switch to another tool. It's that simple.
5 comments:
What I said here.
Wow, that one's even weirder! I'd definitely protest if my university (or my workplace) put up a sign like that on my behalf.
http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petition/toronto-voters-demand-return-of-transit-city/375 sign to get back our transit!
In comments on the Jezebel page, many people question whether construction workers account for a disproportionate amount of street harassment. For me that's an emphatic YES. I wonder how much living in an Northeastern US city colours this perception.
And yes, I agree, this is also an insult to construction workers who behave appropriately, in addition to the sexist insult.
For some bizarre reason, I've never received street harassment from construction workers. It's really weird, because I know street harassment from construction workers is pervasive enough that it's a cultural meme (Eddie Izzard has even used it in his standup), but for some reason it has never happened to me. And I walk past construction sites literally every day! It would be really interesting to figure out why, and see if that could be extrapolated to other areas of life where I do receive street harassment.
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