I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the issue of women’s bodies being viewed as public property. From cat calls to groping, it seems that many men have a clear sense of entitlement to women’s bodies in public spaces. This way of thinking and acting is incredibly prevalent in our society, and the cultural encouragement of this behavior is especially disturbing. I recently watched several videos by Stuart Edge and Andrew Hales that completely condone this type of behavior by harassing women and then playing it off as a fun joke.
Because it is customary in some cultures to kiss as a greeting, in their video, “Greeting People with a Kiss,” Stuart and Andrew attempt this form of introduction on Americans and assess the general reaction. They seem to view it as a harmless experiment, but their behavior is nothing short of assault: they introduce themselves to random, attractive young women, shake their hands, and then, using the handshake to pull the woman in closer, kiss her on the cheeks and lips, despite any protest. Most of the women are obviously uncomfortable and often try to pull away, but Stuart and Andrew generally ignore the objections until the woman yields, excusing their behavior by saying that this way of greeting is “part of [their] culture.”
This so-called experiment is incredibly problematic and sexist, and their behavior toward the men in the video really emphasizes their lack of respect for women’s bodily autonomy. Only two men are subjected to the experiment; the first is kissed on both cheeks, but then Andrew lets him walk away without trying to kiss him on the lips. There is no attempt to kiss the second man on the lips either; he is simply kissed on the cheek, patted on the back, and given the explanation that they’re “just greetin’ people with kisses, you know?” It is important to note that their treatment of the men in the video is respectful and, above all, nonthreatening. Though Stuart and Andrew are neither imposing nor aggressive toward the men in their experiment, they frequently use their own bodies to physically control the women and invade their personal space, betraying their perceived entitlement to female bodies.
Though this video is incredibly sexist, I think their saccharinely titled, “Sweeping Girls off Their Feet,” is arguably worse. I’d love to hear your thoughts on both of these videos, and am curious to see what you think of the obvious chivalry complex present in “Sweeping Girls off Their Feet.”
Unruly Bodies 
Wow, I am in disbelief at how problematic these videos are – especially the “Sweeping Girls Off Their Feet” one. I think what makes that one worse is that they’re coming up from behind. How threatening that would seem. Your point on women’s bodies as public property is on the nose, and these videos are fitting examples of that!
For the first video, in addition to your points, I also take issue with the excuse of “culture” that the guys use. First of all, cultural appropriation LIKE WHOA. But also really badly done – can’t even name where you’re from? And they totally get it wrong. I just finished studying abroad in France, then Tunisia, and they “faire le bisou” (cheek-kissing greeting) in both of the countries. It can be a really nice greeting, but it’s mainly only done with people you know at least a little, and even then, there are boundaries, especially with people of the opposite sex. If someone didn’t lean in when you were shaking hands goodbye, no one would go for the bisou. The only strangers who tried to kiss me were obnoxious guys – so I guess these Americans got that part right? There’s a respect for people’s bodily space in that cultural practice that these guys completely miss.
I honestly couldn’t get through the first video without feeling extremely uncomfortable. I completely agree with your thoughts as well as the comment above; women’s bodies are definitely seen as public property in these videos. The women in the first video are clearly uncomfortable and taken by surprise (but not in a good way!). I have never been in a situation like these women, I wonder how I would handle it if a random man came up to me and tried to kiss me. I’d like to think I would stand my ground but it’s really hard to say. Society has taught us (women) to be passive and polite. It scares me to think that people find these videos funny and entertaining; these women are being harassed for the entertainment and internet fame of two young men who will probably never experience street harassment or sexual assault in their lifetimes.
The second video is definitely sexist and completely supports gender norms as well as the power relations between men and women in our society. The term “sweep her off her feet” is often used in reference to a man “making” a women fall in love with her. In this type of interaction a woman is out of control, completely weakened by her lust and love for a charming man. Her feet are not grounded and it is the man who is completely in control of her thoughts/emotions/body/actions/etc. I feel that the phrase has also been used for many years to refer to marriage and the gender roles associated with men providing financial stability for women and old-school ideas about how a woman’s life will be better after marriage (but I have no hard evidence to support this). I don’t think I have ever heard this expression used in reference to a women sweeping a man off his feet, not ever.
Cait13 touched on cultural appropriation in her comment above, which brings me to a few “what if” questions. The two young men in the videos are young, handsome, white, able bodied, and probably middle/upper class. Would these videos be interpreted as less “funny” if they were young men of color? How about working class or homeless? What if they were wearing different clothing? Maybe a black sweatshirt or something that marked them as intimidating or an outsider. I can’t help but feel that their societal privileges make these videos acceptable and even entertaining.
Oh wow. After watching both videos, I was in complete disbelief. The sad thing is that I can relate since I have encountered scenarios like this a few times where I feel that males my age or a little older have violated my personal space. The two young men demonstrating the experiment in both videos clearly handled the young women they encountered as a toy that a small child can easily manipulate physically. It is obviously an issue of what is truly “male dominance” in society represented through the media, and several more young males will come to believe that dominating a woman physically and mentally will uphold his “manhood”.
After reading your posts and watching the two videos I don’t want to walk in public anymore. If someone came up behind me and “swept me off my feet or gave me a “cultured kiss” I would probably start crying. People, especially these young men/boys need to realize that public places are not the setting for foolish behavior.
This for me was more weird rather than uncomfortable especially since I’m one not to to really hug or kiss someone when greeting them we usually just say “hi” and leave it that. I can imagine how girls must feel because when it comes to physical contact to my face especially from someone that I do not know I would in that moment feel uncomfortable. It reminded me of all the times I would be at church and the Pastor would tell us that we had to greet our neighbor, again in my mind when I greet you I simply say hi, shake your hand and keep it moving. However, I quickly learned that it was not going to be that simple most of the people in the church I didn’t even know by name and they would just walk up to me and kiss my cheek. Of course in the back of my mind all I can think is “I don’t know what you do with those lips” After that I just stopped greeting people altogether so I do believe that it can be an uncomfortable experience but to see it in a video it was weird.
I think it’s also cool to think about this as ‘a youtube video’, how meaning is constructed / distributed in that specific form.
Video editing allows these creators to choose the reactions that form the video, erasing the ‘not cute / funny’ resistance of (I’m guessing) dozens of women. The ‘harmless’ selective video does real work against potential assault charges and that is terrifying to me.
I think it’s interesting that the two videos link into each other, like some hideous ouroboros. The comments sections also become a homogenous space under this system. I’m shocked by how closely they follow the video’s policing (i.e. staggering numbers of positive tone responses to ‘what do you do in your culture?’). What would happen if a woman assaulted in one of these projects tried to dissent in these discourse spaces?
The number of combined views on these two videos is about equal to Chicago’s population in 2011 …
Re: Projections of images of bodies, there are probably some interesting connections between this post and the wonderful selfies post also on this blog: