Men who stare at women on public transport called out in Respect Victoria campaign
Respect Victoria has launched the latest iteration of its ‘Respect Women: Call it Out’ campaign.
The centrepiece is an ad, created by The Shannon Company, which features a woman on a train being stared at by a man whilst one commuter considers whether to intervene.
The campaign seeks to provide the community with the tools to call out sexist and disrespectful behaviour.
Better for all concerned to take the car.
No. Better for men to behave.
Interesting the only reply outrightly defending the advertisement is also the only one anonymous… think it’s obvious which is really on the side of “good”
I think you’re onto something
one day we’ll see a campaign highlighting the plight of the male victims who are…(checks notes) FAR more likely to be murdered, victims of serious physical assault and robbed
but it’s not good business to talk about this and men aren’t at all good at mobilising for support in these areas.
calm down champion.
And one day we’ll have a campaign for women victims without having someone cry out ‘but what about men’?
But it seems once again it is not this day.
#campaigngoals
We have had around 20 years of campaigns with this kind of message. And men have been complaining about this rubbish for around 4 years because it is now at a point where anything a male does that a woman doesn’t like is disrespectful. But it’s not a 2 way street apparently women never do anything wrong or we might have had one just one ad in 20 years about respecting men and their feelings but any time it’s mentioned we see comments like yours and ate told we r mysgonists . Tell me again who is the privilege class here? The group that can do no wrong and every negative feeling is a man’s fault . Or the group that can do no right and can’t even speak about the problems they face to the point where being looked at is seen as a bigger problem that record suicide numbers and an entire family court system used as a weapon against a certain group?
Very well said Rhys
Someone’s been reading too much Jordan Peterson. Incidentally if you read that on the train and stare at a woman she will definitely think you’re a creep.
Rhys , It’s great to hear from an intelligent person ,who has the insight to see what is happening to our forced upon PC culture .
I’m a male and damned if i get called out for , looking at an attractive woman , if women are that self concious about being looked at , don’t wear makeup,wear trousers , don’t colour your hair or get new look styles , in fact be more androgynous . Perhaps the local councillors could hire fashion police, particularly on beaches where bikinis should be traded for neck to knees swimwear , but don’t stop there all means of public transport should have letcher/pervert guards , to issue warnings to those who look up from their reading material , as we all know the book reading is a ruse to hide behind while the men have a good eyeful .
Stupid me ! thought women dressed to look smart , confident , attractive , feel good , and attract attention and compliments . Looks like i’ll have to change my modus operandi and pose as a blind man , sorry (visually impaired ) . Now all i need is a seeing eye dog , sorry again (assistance canine) . I have to make sure it’s a female , as no one likes a slobbering , sniffing male , dogs as well !
Cheers Rob
Ah I don’t wear makeup and showy clothes and I still get harassed by the staring, so fuck off
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Round of applause for this fella, what an upstanding guy, men must love him. NOT ALL MEN WHAT ABOUT MEN MEN MEN MEN
What a ridiculous thing to say. I see instances of this so regularly in Sydney it’s unbelievable. I will always step in or ask the person who is being leered at if they are okay. The reality is most men just don’t experience this kind of behaviour and, in the vast majority of cases, it’s men who are the source of it.
Don’t conflate violence with behaviour like this (although there is a link). This is a positive initiative and should be applauded. The fact that it needs to happen in the first place is pretty damning of attitudes toward women in Australia. I’m Irish and can hand on heart say that there is an issue here which I have not seen at the same scale in Europe. It needs to be dealt with and the only way to do that is by educating young men about what is and isn’t acceptable.
Well said Peter, We need more men like you.
You bring up a good point, because the perpetrators of these actions are overwhelmingly, men. Time to put a curfew on men and ban them from public transport altogether. You’d no doubt agree.
Just right off. You’re part of the problem.
Can’t be. I’m not a man.
Oh no, he looked at people. How offensive! Shame on him for not having his head glued to his phone like everyone else.
But lucky the government is here to save the day with a public service campaign that’s another useless, waste of taxpayer’s money.
There’s a difference between looking and leering.
Do you SERIOUSLY think THAT look on his face was a leer ??.
Well said
This is deliberate close-mindedness. How about the Coward’s Punch campaign? A single event literally rallied a nationwide movement and changes to legislation.
“FAR more likely to be murdered, victims of serious physical assault and robbed…”
… by men. Male violence – and yes, not all men, but it is overwhelmingly so – is the common denominator here and I really hope you can realise that campaigning to end violence against women is an integral part of dismantling the systemic power dynamics that lead to violence against all genders.
I’m all for making sure everyone feels safe on public transport and hopefully the worst that happens to anybody is someone looking at them.
How do you know if he’s creepy or she’s uncomfortable? Are we mind readers?
What if as well as jumping inside the hero’s head we had stepped inside the villain’s? Maybe he is saying “she reminds me of my late wife, I miss her so much”. Maybe he is just trying to work up the courage to go say “hello” and find a connection to another human being (which is becoming increasingly difficult).
We aren’t all the same legendary people in complete control of our confidence and facial expressions.
Would have been cool if the hero in this ad had asked if he could introduce them. The victim in this scenario could say “no, thanks” and then the hero could do his thing…maybe she is looking for a connection too but is a little awkward? Or if the guy is being a stalker he knows that someone is watching him, will recognise him, etc.
Just a thought.
Introduce them? Really? You may not be able to tell who is creepy and who is not, but women can. Your idea is to validate the behaviour of a creep and bring unnecessary attention and pressure to the woman to say no. Women can get killed for saying no to men. Please don’t ever put a woman in this position.
“You may not be able to tell who is creepy and who is not, but women can”
And how do you know this?
Any one a women deems unattractive to them is called creepy . I wonder if it was Brad Pitt looking her way if that would be creepy ?
The same action by 2 different men and 2 different outcomes the only difference is how she feels about the guy . And it’s a funny but I always hear women complaining about men not approaching them why would they apparently looking at them is creepy imagine asking them out maybe u will call is sexual assault
Yeah women call the ugly guy creepy and the handsome guy not creepy..very simple female logic.
Appreciate the thought, but maybe think a bit harder next time mate. People don’t want to have unknown weirdos introducing them to other unknown weirdos when they’re just trying to get from A-B.
Imagine it’s you in this situation and take the sex element out of it altogether (a pretty big part to have taken out, by the way). You’re on the way to work and some dude is staring at you intently. Won’t stop. You’re tired, a bit hungover and don’t really feel like talking to anyone.
Old mate next to you, a person you’ve never met before in your life, pipes up and introduces you to intently staring stranger, forcing you to make conversation with someone who’s already making you uncomfortable.
Now you’re stuck talking to two people you don’t want to be, when all you were trying to do was take the f****** tram.
Sound fun?
I sincerely hope you don’t work in advertising, because WTF.
That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.
I appreciate the alternate views from Ricki, @Rusty, Eh and FFX.
I agree introducing them is probably not on the cards…but my point, that no-one seems to want to counter, was more about the general public being encouraged to try to read a situation and react by getting involved. Who says any of us are expert at reading a situation?
If the guy is the weirdo, stalker, murdering type the Vic Government wants me to be the one to step in? Great now I’m the one getting bashed/murdered when I step off the train and walk home. If this is such a problem maybe they could have redirected the money they spent on this to having roving security patrols on trains, distress/duress alarms?
How far, as a hero, should I go to “save” the victim? Our hero in this case casually stepped into the view of the villain BUT then added a nice little passive-aggressive judgemental head shake at him. A lot of people may not just turn away at that point. They may say “WTF is your problem?” or maybe it is the villain’s brother sitting across from him who stands up and says “WTF is your problem with my brother? He is intellectually disabled and only has 10% vision and I saw the way you were looking at him.”. Who is the creep now…? Where does this end? Very uncomfortably I’d imagine.
My point is, and always was, most people are not good enough at reading situations to be actively encouraged to get involved in them.
What if he’s an alien trapped in a human suit and is trying to understand our society and our ways of interacting and then someone else challenges him and they get zapped by a laser and atomised into nothingness? WHAT THEN?
There are a lot of what ifs. Just don’t leer at women on the train ok.
Old mate in the ad just wanted to get her phone number.
I dont see anything wrong here, she ignored him anyway.
disdain
/dɪsˈdeɪn/
noun
1.
the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one’s consideration or respect.
“her upper lip curled in disdain”
Maybe he just works in the advertising industry and is suffering from some form of mental illness.
Well if he’s in advertising, he’s probably on the way to see his coke dealer.
Good point Rusty. Interesting point of views from all. I actually think the security patrol is a brilliant idea and much better use of money. So many fucking weirdos on the train doing a lot worse than staring.
Everyone involved in making this ad needs to get a life.
So are they going to start arresting people , women or men , for staring
at someone ?
If a woman feels uncomfortable being stared at – tough.
No-one has ever stood up for me if I’m stared at or intimidated or jostled/pushed by other bigger guys on public transport. If the guy actually physically starts to harm the woman in some way , sure then thats a reason to stick up for her . If he’s just looking thats life people.
So you’re saying (1) that the woman is too weak/incapable to move herself out of the staring man’s line of sight and (2) needs a man to protect her?
Replying to Kerry
No thats not what I’m saying at all.
I wonder why they didn’t cast a male model as the leering man.
Really makes ya think, really activates those almonds, really gets the noggin joggin.
I wonder if the oft repeated comment of ‘its all men committing the violent crimes according to statistics” would be just as acceptable as generalising people with those same stat’s based on race.
Then claim we need to educate those people.
That really gets those neurons nervous.
What’s it called? Cognative dissonance?
I dunno, I’m just a guy asking questions over here, tryna make some sense of this crazy world.
On another note, I’d love to see a similar campaign telling women and men (and children) not to stare at disabled people!
Disabled people dont rate in any governments eyes ?
Glancing , looking, admiring, staring, leering, A better strategy would have been to train men on the difference. Unless they’re a George Clooney –then replace all the above with ‘flattery’,
Suspicion of lewd thought, a crime punishable by exactly what? Couldn’t this government have come up with a better example? The druggie with poor hygiene, the menacing hang of youths, the sizzled footy drunk? Instead they have gone in with the middle aged white professional, it’s a wonder the leftie PC brigade didn’t have the saviour as an ethnic, gay female in a wheel chair.
Another $h!t stirring add spreading fear and hate… I can’t believe this a government funded campaign on how to act in public. Alot of people feel awkward (men and women) taking public transport. This will make anyone with social/anxiety issues extremely uncomfortable. This add does far more harm than good. Not to mention the hero drunks starting fights with so called creeps to “protect” women. Disappointed our society has stooped to this level of stupid:(
Sadly, it’s a reality that this happens to women and it is usually unwanted behaviour (from my own and most women I knows perspective). If you think this is overkill or PC gone mad, ask a woman in your life how they feel about this. Ask several. You may have mixed feelings about this as you consider yourself a good guy, but it’s not about you. Please consider this position and empathise with your friends, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc, before you dismiss this.
Why don’t we just ban men from leaving their houses. This will solve the problem. I’m scared to look at women now Incase I am accused of being a creep.
Can we also respect men? When will these adds be released?
It should be obvious by the number of comments and their reactionary style, that there is a confusion in the community.
The political rhetoric associated with, not real feminism, but the perceived ideology of feminism, the “everypersons” PC for dummies version of feminism, is intrinsically very confusing.
There is a desire to change things, without a clear view of what ought to be changed, how that change will be effected, and what the outcome will deliver. The simplistic way is to create good and evil, black and white, right and wrong in an Animal Farm kind of way “four legs good two legs bad.”
There are, in common parlance, many expressions that appear to be true, when in fact, they are highly questionable. There is “Gossipy Old Woman” and “Dirty Old Man” “Pervert” and short nouns like “Tart” “Bitch” “Prick” and “Slut.” These unthinking emotional terms are casually and carelessly applied somewhere and by someone every day.
The only message needed to help all people on earth to coexist in harmony is to strive to be better by being kind to each other.
Its very simple.
if the male looking is unattractive – then likely he’s a creep and has committed thoughtcrime.
If the male looking is attractive then he’s just flirting and its ok.
Judgement will be selectively given by a panel of females on reviewing the evidence later.
Guilty males will be punished appropriately for thoughtcrime.
PS there’s absolutely no hypocrisy or double standards here, as women don’t ‘rate’ men and discuss who’s attractive and who’s not, and they definitely don’t treat men any differently based on their attractiveness….and make sneering comments about them….Oh, wait…
Just simply arrest all unattractive men, as they are obviously all creeps prima facie, and only allow attractive men out on the streets. This is pretty much the message here.
Getting the casting, wardrobe and staring just right was basically impossible for this concept. They did pretty well all things considered.
Kerrie nailed it though. If we’re taking on the ‘threat’ of staring, women should feel empowered to deal with that disrespect themselves. Perhaps with the backup of the bystanders somehow? But not led by them. In the real world, a random male hero stepping in could definitely complicate things.
I empathise with sadbuttrue but surely this isn’t the most pertinent topic the government could have addressed.
How about more campaigns about safety in numbers and not travelling alone at night that features women and men and PSOs instead of citizen heroes?
There are all these ads where the women stare at attractive men doing some service to them like making coffee or washing their car or something and it’s in slow motion. I feel like I’ve seen hundreds of them. No men really complained that I know of.
Never seen a man stare like that at a woman on any public transport in my life.
Funnily enough I have seen WOMEN staring and even taking photos of men in their gym shorts on trains and buses in eastern Sydney.
WHY ARE MEN ALWAYS THE PERPETRATORS?
I blame it on the Australian media – the ABC and SBS only report on domestic violence when the woman is the victim but never the perpetrator – 99% of the time the journalist is female.
Time to wake up women of Australia, I’ll stick up for women when they start acknowledging that domestic violence and sexual harassment also happens to men.
On an equal rights note – moving forward I won’t be offering my seat to a member of the public just because they are female and it is expected. You want equal rights? Then stand.
All I see is a good looking man staring menacingly at less attractive man.
Isn’t that violence too?
What a load of crock..!
This should be left up to the looking police on public transport. you look in the direction of anyone male, female or child for to long they should be issued with a fine…?♂️??
Hard to imagine a more ridiculous and misandristic ad.
Why don’t they have an advert about gay men making straight men uncomfortable by sitting opposite them and staring at them?
There is something extremely repressive about this advert, almost like the government has a fascist agenda. Soon it will be law that we cannot look at anybody in any situation. Seriously what is the point of living these days?
Can you please roll out a campaign to deter women staring at and approaching me when I leave the gym in a singlet?
Have had numerous cases of harrassment. One lady pulled me aside and asked if I was married as her daughter who was standing there with her was in need of a man. Looked more like she needed a baby sitter.
Feminism is terrorism.
Respect is earned not given, stop acting like spoiled little childeren. Far as i’m concerened women [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Can’t even look at a person on a tram that’s ridiculous ; what a nanny state. What is it ocular rape? Eye contact? what a waste of taxpayers money lol
It would be great if people could refrain from staring, smirking, grimacing, frowning at, whispering about transgender people on the train. One can hope.
I know. All men, who are all apparently evil, should stop looking, approaching and even talking to women or even acknowledge them. That way, there will be no complaints, right? Oh wait:
Cue:
“When are men going to man up?”
“Why aren’t men asking me out?”
“What’s wrong with men? Are they all gay?”
Not that I condone the movement, but this is why those men that go MGTOW do so.
This pathetic ad cost Victorian taxpayers $1.3 million. Funny how the stereotypical ‘bad person’ in any is always a white, middle aged male.
Society would be better to stop demonising men. This ad is pathetic.
Perhaps you should focus on meeting your targets.
Ahhh Ive been travelling on PT a long time, i never see men doing what this guy is doing. Maybe late at night half drunk? But on a regular commute? Absolutely not. On the contrary, I do see men completely ignoring women dressed to entice and draw attention to their “assets” so i dont know, im 70 (female) and i think im going to call this utter b.s.