Life

10 Hours of Walking in NYC...As a Man

by Eliza Castile

Unless you've been wasting away on a wifi-free desert island Castaway style over the past few days, chances are you've seen the "10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman" video in which a woman walks around the city alone and receives over 100 instances of harassment over the course of 10 hours. Like you'd expect, it's getting a significant amount of attention around the Internet, both positive and negative, and the latest commentary on the subject is comedy group "Funny or Die's" latest video, "10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Man."The video is obviously intended to make you laugh, and I can guarantee you'll at least crack a smile after the third football in three minutes is chucked at the man from offscreen. However, absurdly funny as it is to see a man literally carried like a king on the shoulders of fellow pedestrians, it also serves to highlight male privilege, which allows you to walk alone without fear of strangers invading your privacy and personal space. The man in the video is showered with compliments ("hey powerful," "nice tie"), gifts (the aforementioned footballs, sunscreen, Chipotle burritos), and even a job offer. Obviously, this won't happen every time a man takes a trip down to the nearest bodega, but they are advantages that will happen over the course of his lifetime simply because he is man. In contrast, the "advantages" that come from being a female alone in public are simply sexual harassment.

The video's ending message is the most powerful part. "If you want to help, do nothing. Leave the patriarchy in place."If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out the original video as well.