youngblackfeminist:youngblackfeminist: &n
youngblackfeminist: youngblackfeminist: MEET A YOUNG BLACK FEMINIST TENTH AND FINAL INTERVIEW TATYANA FAZLALIZADEH - artist x activist Meet a YoungBlackFeminist is a new summer feature hosted by YoungBlackFeminist.com. Every Saturday, from June to August, we interview one woman who shares her experiences, stories, and lessons learned while living as a Black feminist in today’s world. We discuss feminism, sexuality, young womanhood, creativity, and more. It’s a place to learn, grow, and find a place of support - by young Black women, for young Black women. For most women, street harassment is a silent experience. The comments, leers, grabs and shouts often begin at a young age, increasingly normalized by seeing other women - mothers, sisters, friends, strangers - receive the same treatment. For too many young girls, it becomes a toxic rite of passage. As women grow up, the behavior becomes obviously wrong and definitely unwanted, but the culture of normalization never seems to go away. “It’s just a compliment,” people say. The men just want a smile and our number - we should be flattered in fact, the silencing continuing ever again. But one day, Tatyana Fazlalizdeh said a big, loud, wonderful, “fuck you,” to all of that. And the most stunning part: it was through art. Tatyana is the creator of the famous “Stop Telling Women to Smile” series, an art project that addresses “gender based street harassment, by placing drawn portraits of women, composed with captions that speak directly to offenders, outside in public spaces.” She not only exposes the true reality of street harassment, but boldly and beautifully ends the culture of silence with other brave women. I’m ecstatic I got to talk with Tatyana, and hear her wise and fearless commentary on the street harassment conversation at large. Read our interview below, on how young women can respond to catcalling, what young Black girls should always remember, and why street harassment is never just a compliment. READ INTERVIEW HERE If you’ve ever been street harassed. If you hate catcalling, and want to end it. If you believe women deserve a safe world to live in. Read this interview. Tatyana gives great advice to how women can respond to catcalling (internally and externally), and how women - together - can end it. -- source link
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