On Friday 30th November hundreds of feminists marched through the streets of Bristol as part of the annual Reclaim The Night movement. With chants such as “This is what a feminist looks like” and “However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no”, we were met with cheers and the honking of car horns. Onlookers leaned out of their windows to clap and we captured the attention of many an eager snapchatter. The march ended at The Richmond building where there was a talk from a representative from Hollaback London, some absolutely phenomenal spoken word and a performance from the Bollywood Dance Society.The evening was an extremely poignant one. The feeling was one of intense solidarity and anger. The recent #thisisnotconsent movement, sparked when a lawyer used a thong as evidence of consent during a rape trial, has made me wonder whether we’ve made any progress at all since Reclaim first began in 1977.
When Alanis Morissette sung about rain on her wedding day what she forgot to mention was the irony of being heckled while on your way to a feminist march. However, as me and my friend walked past the hippodrome on Friday, with an umbrella protecting us from the drizzle, two men thought it was appropriate to shout out comments about our appearances. I couldn’t believe that I was being harassed while holding a sign which read “Fuck the Patriarchy” nor that I was being harassed at 6pm with nothing more than my ankles on show. This very thought is why Reclaim is so important. I thought that maybe if it was midnight and I was scantily clad, I would somehow deserve to be heckled. My reaction was to laugh and keep walking. But, I was annoyed with myself for having a subconscious need to appease a harasser. I didn’t want to cause a scene after all. We have a fundamental right to feel safe in public spaces no matter who we are, where we are, what we’re wearing or what time it is. I think we still have many more years of taking back the night before this becomes a reality. I intend to be there, making noise, every time.