"Dressing down" might increase street harassment

Tiah Eckhard, a writer and model, has a really interesting observation on street harassment of women at http://instagram.com/p/ul4LhwNNaT/. She did an experiment where on day one she dressed down (no make up, wore a sweater, pants and running shoes) and day two she dressed up (full make up and hair, mini dress and high heels). She was harassed on day one but not day two.

Proving the odd pattern I had noticed since I started to dress up less. Not only did this prove that the crap society feeds us- that if we don't wear make-up and short skirts and instead 'cover up' and downplay our sexual appeal for our own 'safety'- is not just just ineffectual (for me at least), it downright contradicts it. I don't know if it's because a younger-looking or more casually dressed woman appears more vulnerable, to have lower standards or be easier prey. Or if aggressive or insecure men- the kind that would likely indulge in that sort of behavior- are intimidated by confident or good looking women, I don't know. What I do know, is following the ridiculous standards that stupid people expect us to in order to be responsible for our own safety, not only suppresses our autonomy over our appearance, but gets us nowhere, in regards to progression OR safety. So dress however you want, you have a right to. And remember that a swiftly wielded stiletto heel will do more damage to someone's face then a 2 gram foam Nike free-run.