Gender Power: Street Harassment in NYC

This addition to Educational Video Center's student-produced Youth Documentary Workshop NYC-set series is prefaced with a viewer discretion warning about profanity and controversial content (read: lots of “bitches”). Offering statistics about the effects of street harassment—experienced by a vast majority of girls—Gender Power explores how unwelcome words or actions constitute an invasion of private space, and may be the result of media influences and the cultural stereotyping of women as passive sex objects and men as domineering. Experts including Emily May of Hollaback!, Kathryn Stamoulis of Hunter College, and Don Kao of Project Reach combine commentary with featured teen producers' real stories, including one involving a mouthy aggressive boy named Ronnie who even harasses one of the filmmakers after the camera stops rolling. Initially unapologetic about his treatment of passersby, Ronnie is at a loss for words when confronted about what his feelings would be if someone talked like that to his mother or sister. Although the overwhelming city sounds and a lame dramatic re-enactment are drawbacks, this is a thought-provoking program overall that is sure to spur discussion. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Williams-Wood)