This woman is taking a bite out of street harassment.
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She came up with a much more effective method to get rid of unwanted attention than Minnie Mouse's catchphrase "Gosh!"
(via Facebook)
Every since "the video," it's pretty much accepted that street harassment is as common as walking down the street. We've acknowledged that it happens and conceded that it is a problem (begrudgingly by some), but no one has been able to propose a realistic way to stop it until now.
Débora Adorno, a university student in Belo Horizante, Brazil, posted to Facebook her regular struggle with walking to class down a crowded street where the harassment of women is very common.
"The majority of women here understand perfectly well what i am talking about," Débora writes, "but men, dogs, do not have a sense of how we feel invaded, disturbed, and oppressed."
She explained how normally she gets down the street by fixing her gaze at some point in the distance and moving as quickly as possible, afraid to speak out against them in case the men might "beat me, threaten me, .... a thousand things."
"So when a guy passing me in the opposite direction was leering at me, before he had a chance to speak, I made the tooth face."
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You don't have to bare it all, just your teeth. (via Facebook)
"For those who know me," she writes, "that tooth is almost like my trademark."
That silly face you make when trying to crack your friends has a completely different effect predators: sheer confusion.
"The guys looked, and then quickly looked away, probably thinking that I had a deformation or illness."
Yes, it goes to show that if they are looking at you because they are attracted to you, it makes sense that looking less attractive would curb the situation. It seems kind of mean to fake a disability when you don't have one, and she expressly doesn't want anyone to be offended by her tactic.
"I know that I will never be able to understand or measure the daily reality of exclusion and prejudice that many people are suffering because they are physically different," she wrote, however, in that moment, when she felt immediately threatened, it just worked. Terrible, but true.
It is an equal but opposite reaction to the "she was asking for it" response given to women who dress sexy. However, she also wants to be clear that if you do not do "the tooth," it is not your fault if you are harassed, in exactly the same way that the harassment is not your fault if you do happen to dress sexy. The blame goes to the men, but she is simply presenting an option should you wish to neutralize an immediate situation.
Débora explained that she continued to make the face at men for the remaining 10 minute walk to her bus stop, and for the first time, completely avoided traffic.
"All that time it rained a rainbow inside me."
And now she is raining rainbows inside a lot of women in Brazil where "toothy face" AKA has become a meme.
Men, take note: the next time you see a woman make this face at you, it's probably because you're being a creep.
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