Street

Using groundbreaking studies, news stories, and interviews, this book underscores that there will never be gender equity until men stop harassing women in public spaces—and it details strategies for achieving this goal. Street harassment is generally dismissed as harmless, but in reality, it causes women to feel unsafe in public, at least sometimes. To achieve true gender equality, it must come to an end. Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women draws on academic studies, informal surveys, news articles, and interviews with activists to explore the practice's definition and prevalence, the societal contexts in which it occurs, and the role of factors such as race and sexual orientation. Perhaps more crucially, the book makes clear how women experience street harassment—how they feel about and respond to it—and the ways it negatively impacts lives. But understanding is only a beginning. In the second half of the book, readers will find concrete strategies for dealing with street harassers and ways to become involved in working to end this all-too-common violation. Educators, counselors, parents, and other concerned individuals will discover resources for teaching about harassment and modeling behavior that will help prevent harassment incidents.

High Street and Wesleyan University (founded in 1831) share a fascinating, intertwined history. From this major inland port on the Connecticut River, Middletown's sea captains and merchants made fortunes in the 18th and early 19th centuries trading with the West Indies, South America, and China. Others enjoyed wealth amassed from the local manufacture of swords, firearms, and marine hardware. These prominent families built fashionable villas of the latest architectural designs on High Street. Many of their homes remain, and two have been designated national historic landmarks. With spectacular views of the river valley below, its avenue of arching elms, and the addition of Wesleyan's formidable "Brownstone Row," the street has attracted many to the hill. Dignitaries, including George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, William Howard Taft, and Martin Luther King Jr., came to High Street.