Running While Female
October 27, 2016 4:49 PM   Subscribe

"43 percent of women at least sometimes experience harassment on the run, according to a recent Runner's World survey, compared with just 4 percent of men. In the vast majority of cases, it’s not life-threatening. But it is pervasive, and it’s upsetting, and it’s most likely happening to you or someone you know."
posted by roomthreeseventeen (33 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
As always, if any one is wondering what they can do to help, it's fairly simple: Listen to women who share their stories of harassment. Believe these women. Support them in whatever way they feel they need support. And if you see another person participating in this kind of behaviour, call them out on it and let them know that it is not acceptable and that they're awful human beings. Fuck these assholes.
posted by Fizz at 4:55 PM on October 27, 2016 [18 favorites]


I've taken up running since earlier this year and to my surprise, I enjoy it. But because I go super early in the morning--6 am--and it is now super dark at that hour, I have to do the everyday infuriating and upsetting math in my head about men I encounter on the track I use. So far, so good (except a couple of guys who think I am thrilled to be wolf-whistled at at that hour), but having to be on alert when I just want to run can ruin it for me.
posted by Kitteh at 5:05 PM on October 27, 2016 [6 favorites]


While not at all the same thing, I have felt a different kind of harassment as a runner who is a visible minority in a predominantly white neighborhood. Maybe its my neighborhood or just my random luck to have run by random racist/bigoted assholes, but I've had people tell me to “Go back to my country.” also racial slurs that have been yelled in my direction. I've learned to just ignore it and concentrate on the podcast I'm listening to and to keep running. It's not worth stopping to acknowledge these assholes. It's sad that people feel as if they can safely behave like this in public. And I have no doubt that these kinds of harassment discourage a certain portion of runners from running outdoors and force them to find alternative forms of activity or to give it up altogether. Ugh, fuck these people.
posted by Fizz at 5:12 PM on October 27, 2016 [8 favorites]


Fizz, I hear you. Although I am a woman, all of the negative comments ever made at me while running have been about my disability and not my gender. [Or, if there's an intersection component there, it's that people feel more comfortable making comments about that because I'm a woman.]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:20 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Damn. As a white dude running I'm mostly just worried about cars and poison ivy. I wish I could relieve you of this bullshit.
posted by Songdog at 6:43 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


I wish I could relieve you of this bullshit.

You can! Stand up to other men you see or hear doing things like this! Tell them it's not cool! These dudes are never going to listen to women, but they will likely respond to being shamed by other men. You may not see dudes yelling at women runners, but you may hear dudes saying misogynist things in other situations. Call them out about it. You are not helpless.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 7:13 PM on October 27, 2016 [34 favorites]


I started running as a young teen and somehow always figured this was something that happened to all runners and put it in a different category than the harassment I deal with as a woman. I'm actually pretty distressed to hear male runners say they haven't experienced that level of harassment.
posted by Tentacle of Trust at 7:16 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


I can't believe it's only 43%. This is a fact of life for every female runner I know.
posted by something something at 7:40 PM on October 27, 2016 [7 favorites]


The only time and place I'm willing to run now is during a 5k at Disneyland. The only harassment I get there is a grumpy, "Shove off!" from this one guy that shows up to every runDisney event and doesn't understand why no one else cares quite as much about speed as he does. Other than that? Safe, happy, healthy running atmosphere through and through.*

*provided you've paid the $100 entrance fee, of course
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:52 PM on October 27, 2016


The most unpleasantly memorable harassment that I've experienced while running involved a motorist yelling at me to "put some clothes on" (I was wearing shorts and a tank top over a racerback bra). Then he and the woman beside him both laughed as they drove away.

How such a brief interaction could have such a visceral impact, I don't know, but it did. The element of surprise, combined with their being able to disappear from sight while I was standing there, trying to catch my breath and collect my wits, was the emotional equivalent of a punch to the solar plexus.
posted by virago at 8:23 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


43%?! I experience this on more than 43% of my outdoor runs!
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:10 PM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


I run with my wife but not always side by side and the number of times I have had to insert myself between her and and a creep who has decided to run up immediately behind her and then just stay there thinking she is alone and can be harassed without consequences is pretty disturbingly high.

The other bit of run fun with men is the number of guys who increase their pace when a woman passes them. They almost always can't sustain the new pace but they just cannot stand to be passed by a middle aged woman and will bust a gut trying to keep ahead. It's pretty pathetic (okay, I'll admit sometimes it's me trying to compete with my wife ).

I make a point when running or walking alone to never match pace with anybody nearby ever. It's a horrible and weirdly creepy intrusion like getting in someone's personal space uninvited. Just don't do it!
posted by srboisvert at 9:17 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm a bicycle guy, I ride every day on the hike/bike trail here in the heart of Austin, I like to ride in the late afternoon or early evening, end up in the gloaming at the 8 mile mark sprawled on a bench watching the sunset over the river. Tons of women runners/walkers/bicyclists as I start the ride, as long as it is light. After the sun sets -- no women unless they are with men. Period. To the point where I'm really surprised if I encounter a woman on her own, whether running, walking, or biking. Same planet, different world.
posted by dancestoblue at 11:56 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


This article was posted on my running group's Facebook page. One of the women posted a link to a blog post about her experience being cat-called. Linking it here with permission.
50 Shades of Chafe
I often wonder what men’s intentions are when they interrupt a woman’s run to express what I did assume was their appreciation for what awesome runners we are. What exactly are they trying to achieve with that wolf whistle? What would their ideal outcome be from the sleazy phrases yelled from their vehicles as they speed past? I’ll tell you what they would LOVE to happen as a result of that cat call, because I’ve had hundreds of kilometres to dream up this fantasy....
And I'm speculating, but it seems as though this behaviour is all on the spectrum of male feelings of entitlement. Even if men aren't catcalling, they still feel entitled to pass comment on women - specifically thinking of my girlfriend's experience, slowly running uphill, red-faced and puffing, and a guy calling out "Good on ya!". Which seems innocuous, but who asked you, motherfucker? Who gave you the right to pass judgement? You wouldn't say it to me (I've run thousands of miles without ever having an interaction like that). Obviously not as serious as sexual comments, but all part of the same problem, I feel.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:48 AM on October 28, 2016 [4 favorites]


Re: entitlement to pass judgement -

I'd file a lot of the more mild comments that I get while existing in public into that box. Things like "you look pretty today" from a man who frequently rides my bus.

When it comes to insults and cat-calls, I think it's more than just entitlement, though. It's a desire to intimidate. These men are bullies, and they know it. It makes them feel powerful to upset women, and to put them in their place. No one is so clueless that they think women enjoy it.

If I can thank the alt-right for anything, it's for providing a wealth of explicit, written evidence about what some men really think about women. I no longer try to interpret it as just entitlement combined with ordinary meanness. It is 100% about male dominance.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 3:46 AM on October 28, 2016 [11 favorites]


Reminds me of this ask where a tripwire was set for a runner and someone actually suggested apologizing and buying the man a coffee.
posted by asockpuppet at 5:50 AM on October 28, 2016 [8 favorites]


When it comes to insults and cat-calls, I think it's more than just entitlement, though. It's a desire to intimidate. These men are bullies, and they know it. It makes them feel powerful to upset women, and to put them in their place.

Yes absolutely. It doesn't really matter what the exact thing is they're yelling - whether it's something approving about your body, or something disapproving about your body, or jumping in your path to yell "BOO!", or running alongside you to make hilaaaaaaarious comments about "hahaha you're running, ooooh, look I can run too!" with exaggerated loping strides and waving arms in your face - it's all saying the same thing. As the article puts it, “You are present in my space and I’m going to let you know it’s my space.”
posted by Catseye at 6:29 AM on October 28, 2016 [6 favorites]


I responded to that poll (96 percenter). Working through the questions alongside my wife was an eye opener, for sure (wait, what?).
posted by notyou at 8:14 AM on October 28, 2016


As a white male runner who runs with a dog, my concerns, in descreasing order, are off-leash dogs, cars, burrs and bikers who don't use a bell.

Dealing with an uncoperative ass with off leash dogs and getting chased/harassed (or perhaps hounded) for 10-60 seconds can easily ruin the next 20-40 minutes of the run as I mentally fume and my heart rate stays higher than normal. During these times, I'll readily admit that it's never yet been a seriously threatening thing (albeit my knees/ankles really don't like having my 60 pound dog trying to pull every which way because there's a dog running circles around us, possibly dodging in and out to nip at him, and sometimes me).

It's seriously saddening and maddening to think about someone else having to deal with far worse, and far more often.

I can at the very least be glad that in my running group (~80 total people, about 50/50 gender split, usually ~20-30 show up for any one run (2-4 per week)) there's never been anything I've witnessed to call out. But, an organized running group where people know each other by name is all-but completely different from a group of "random people showing up at the track at 6am."

If I'm passed by or passing someone going in either direction I'll give a short wave and a "Hi." or "Morning." If it's a guy and they say nothing in response (only about 10% of the time) I'll privately think, "Jerk." If it's a woman who gives no response (about 20% of the time) I sadly understand there's likely some Schroedinger's equation going off in her head and can find no fault in the non-engagement on the fly-by.

If I'm passing a male runner going in the same direction, I'll usually slow down and ask if they want company for a bit. This has been 100% met with yes and we'll talk for a bit until our routes take us in different directions. I'll note that a few times other guys who've been passing have slowed to run/talk with me for a bit, but I've never been asked if I'm good with the company. If I'm passing a woman runner I don't ask, so as to limit and stressful risk-equations for her, and instead keep going with only a warning "passing on your left." and a hi/morning as I pass.

I'm sorry that so many of you have to deal with this.
posted by nobeagle at 8:30 AM on October 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


uh, are there any women who DON'T experience this/expect this/keep one eye out/constantly look over their shoulder while running alone? Maybe if you're running somewhere there are no people? (IME, cities are way worse for this sort of thing, for sure, but if you're running somewhere unpopulated then you have to worry about other dangers than just catcalls.) Because I sure as hell expect to be hassled and I don't know any women who don't, and I know an awful lot of women runners. Most of whom carefully plan their routes for safety. 43% seems way too low to me. Again with the "this is only news because men are somehow hearing about it for the first time" filter.
posted by john_snow at 8:59 AM on October 28, 2016 [3 favorites]


I've been a runner for two months now -- heading out to do the last day of C25K as soon as the coffee kicks in. Yesterday I was in the store buying a new running top as a reward for doing so well on my goal, and "will this get me unwanted attention" was a question I asked while weighing my options.

In a better world I could skip the tanktop altogether and just wear my sports bra -- it's as modest as many swimsuits. I've figured out that wearing skorts, I get left alone; wearing leggings, I get "HI!" shouted in my face by bikers.

I'm middle aged, wear glasses and headphones, am the sweatiest person you'll ever see gasping along the trail, and I have an unfriendly mien while out and about. And yet.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:13 AM on October 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT RUN I MENTIONED.

It was an unclear situations. The guy was on the trail at the same time I was, with his dog, going in the same direction. Because he kept stopping for his dog to wander into the ditch, I would have to pass him, then he would pass me (he was on a skateboard) and stop, and then I would pass him. It could've been a coincidence. But here's the thing -- a more considerate man would've timed it so he wasn't leapfrogging me down the trail. He could've gone ahead (he was faster) or he could've let me get ahead (he took frequent breaks).

So, for men who are asking what they can do to help: pay attention, so you're not accidentally making a woman spend energy to keep one eye on you.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:48 AM on October 28, 2016 [5 favorites]


uh, are there any women who DON'T experience this/expect this/keep one eye out/constantly look over their shoulder while running alone?

I'll be the exception that proves the rule here – yeah, running is THE SINGLE ACTIVITY I haven't (yet) been harassed while doing. I did a lot of cross-country while young, but this was with school friends, many of whom had been my baseball teammates before. I stopped running at age 16 due to knee and shin problems my parents didn't want to pay for (US healthcare).

Years of not running later, I broke my arm last year and once the cast was off, I asked my physical therapist about the knees and shins. He told me to try zero drop running shoes; changed my life. (Note: I always wear Birkenstocks and Converse walking around, so don't take the zero drop recommendation as being for everyone; my body works best that way is all.) So I started up running again this March.

I live near the Seine, which is a hot spot for runners. I run 3-4 times a week, early morning before work or before noon on weekends, and have never had an issue. I suspect it may be because the police in our area have so little to do that they regularly patrol the trails.

Why this exception proves the rule: I have been harassed while walking, hiking, cycling, swimming, standing, sitting, eating, drinking, not eating, not drinking, working, relaxing, looking at artwork in museums, playing Pokemon Go, checking my mailbox (the physical one in our apartment building), taking out the trash, playing piano, playing saxophone, okay I'm getting tired of typing this list.

One of the things that's heartened me a bit around the alt-right nonsense this year is that I've noticed several friends and friends-of-friends who have started saying "knock it the fuck off" to misogynist crap. It's awesome. It works, too, as many have attested. They were surprised at how well it worked at first, now they're like, surfing on the wave of telling misogynist dudes to STFU.
posted by fraula at 11:57 AM on October 28, 2016 [5 favorites]


Fraula, I am asking this because I honestly don't know - how is street harassment in France compared to the US? I mean, the list you mention suggests it is at least as bad....just curious about whether the US/France can be compared. I guess I was thinking only of the US in my statement (sorry!) as that's the only place I've ever run. I've gotten harassed more while running than doing everything else... although, the one time I ever fought back was by unleashing an unbelievable amount of profanity at a couple of men who harassed me while I was running and WOW did that feel good. They had no idea what to make of it. I still remember it happily and it was probably a decade ago.

The corpse in the library - count me as another one who wears more than would be comfortable as a means of heading off harassment. Just leggings is way more comfortable, but I add shorts on top to prevent any "well, what did you expect, wearing that" sort of issue. UGH.
posted by john_snow at 12:13 PM on October 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


On my 1st trip to Paris a man fell into step next to me and began cooing to me in French, which I don't speak. I had to run across the street to get away from him.

I've since memorized the phrase for "Leave me alone!", which worked on my last trip when someone picketing my hotel ( not sure id he actually worked there) came leering up to me; he had just kissed the doorman.

The phrase in German didn't work when a man "helped" me with my suitcase at the Innsbruck train station.
posted by brujita at 4:27 PM on October 28, 2016


Not at all to downplay the harassment of female runners (my wife reports the wolf-whistles and comments described above too), but I'd wager that at a minimum of one run in five I get harassment from a certain type of young man. Between 17-35. Generally in a hotted up car. Clearly poorly socialised.

90 percent of the time it's shouting the word, "FAGGOT!" from the window of a moving car, with the other ten percent one of, "WANKER!" "FUCKWIT!" or some-such put-down.

I'd wager that many of these fellows are the same ones (or type) shouting at my wife. I reckon that misogyny is a big part of their deal, as well as a healthy dose of homophobia. As often is the case, it's all wrapped up in a parcel best labelled, "Rude arsehole".
posted by Tasmanian_Kris at 7:20 PM on October 28, 2016


uh, are there any women who DON'T experience this/expect this/keep one eye out/constantly look over their shoulder while running alone?

I'll be the exception on this - I'm an on-and-off runner and I've never experienced harassment while running. I typically run in the evenings (sometimes after dark) or on weekend mornings in an quiet urban area with very little car traffic, including along a seaside path that has a few other runners, dogwalkers, and fishermen. On the rare occasions that people have spoken to me, it's been about their dog (that I stopped to pet) or a compliment from another woman wearing leggings on the leggings I'm wearing. I do always wonder if it's only a matter of time...

On the other hand, the minute I get on my bike and head to a few other nearby neighborhoods, it's propositioning and catcalling o' clock.
posted by asphericalcow at 8:22 PM on October 28, 2016


I'm a female early morning runner, usually out from 5:30 to 6 most weekday mornings and I've been spared from comments.

I think it's probably because I run with 65 lbs of black lab/rottweiler mix. Kima is an exceptionally intimidating dog.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 10:37 AM on October 29, 2016 [3 favorites]


I too run with a big dog. I wonder if you get the same creepy phenomenon I do where people sloooow down until they spot that I have a dog the size of a pony with me, then speed up?
posted by winna at 4:18 PM on October 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


That doesn't happen. Runners smile at her because she looks ridiculous but pedestrians give her a wide berth. Parents of kids who want to pet her are surprised when she immediately sits and lets them hang all over her.

But ever since I started running with her, I haven't gotten harassed once. I don't feel the need to keep scanning my environment for creeps and can relax a bit more. I never realized how tense I had been, which makes me wonder if that may be part of the reason some women don't take to running.

You're running and actively scanning for safety; it is exhausting and actually kind of stressful.

I didn't realize how stressful running had been until I began running with the giant moose dog.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 3:46 AM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


Mod note: A couple of comments deleted. I think the intention was actually innocent, but suggesting that people are just on the lookout for something to feel offended about is just going to start a huge fight, and the "it's hard to give a compliment these days" thing has been argued, debated, fought, explained, re-explained, mansplained, womansplained, splained again, rode hard, and put up wet -- both here and all over the internet, and not really something that great to revisit yet again.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:30 AM on October 30, 2016 [7 favorites]


A little more than a year ago in October 2015, I witnessed another woman get grabbed by a man on a bicycle, on the Mount Vernon Trail, just outside of DC. He grabbed her butt, and then pulled on her arm. He may have tried to pull her into the adjacent woods/brush, but I don't know - I saw it and immediately yelled out, and then he took off.

I caught up with her and offered to call police on my phone. We chatted for a bit, she opted out of calling police (at the time, at least), and I walked with her as she jogged into a much more trafficked area. After we parted I decided to call police on my own, because that was scary as hell, and I'm on that path multiple times a week - this was a sunny afternoon in broad daylight.

I met with three (white, male) city police officers. I gave them my account. I later learned that they did not file a report.

In some completely random roundabout way, 8 days later, I got a call from United States Park Police (the MVT runs along a parkway, and crosses counties, so jurisdiction is iffy), where one of their colleagues saw my very homemade sign that I posted on the trail to alert others. The colleague basically called local police departments, asking for information and a police report - my city police department still had my info, but they neglected to file a report.

It's really, really fucking infuriating when this shit happens to women runners. It's unfuckingbelievable when your own police officers don't *believe* a women's witness account, and don't file a fucking report.

[a report did eventually get filed, but two weeks later. If a female colleague of the US Park Police never saw my homemade magic marker sign, I'm damn sure nothing would have been done and no report filed at all]
posted by raztaj at 5:29 PM on November 4, 2016 [3 favorites]


I love dogs, and running with a dog sounds like a lot of fun. But my experience of being a woman out with a dog is that men will use the dog as an excuse to engage with me. I haven't had small dogs, either. Not moose dogs--but think between 35-70lbs.

It wasn't always an excuse to hit on me. Sometimes men just really like dogs too. But it puts me on edge because I don't know that, and all of the same issues with dealing with strange men come up. I'm naturally friendly, I would love to talk to you about the dog--but you know, wouldn't want to be a tease! Oh, but I can't be too cold, either, because wouldn't want to be a bitch either!
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:43 AM on November 6, 2016


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