The slogan on my t-shirt when I’m out running or walking would read “If you can’t say just Hello and treat me like a normal human being, not some female body to pepper stupid arse unwelcome comments with, you can just Fuck Off” … Tatyana Fazlalizadeh in this New York Times article might have a better approach.

Shorty. Sweetie. Sweetheart. Baby. Boo. If you’re a woman, you’ve probably heard it.

If you were to respond, what would you say?

Last fall, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh began replying — through her art — to the dozens of men who approached her in public each week. As night fell, she slipped out of her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment armed with a bottle of wheat paste, a couple of posters and a paintbrush, and began to pepper Brooklyn with messages:

“My name is not Baby.” “Women are not seeking your validation.” “Stop telling women to smile.”

Since September, Ms. Fazlalizadeh has plastered walls in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Clinton Hill and Williamsburg. As winter came and night temperatures dropped, though, she retired her paintbrush. “The wheat paste starts to freeze before it actually dries,” she said. “So the paper wasn’t holding.”

But as slightly warmer weather has returned, so have the messages. She recently tossed up two posters on the corner of Tompkins Avenue and Halsey Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. And Ms. Fazlalizadeh, 27, an Oklahoma-born oil painter, illustrator and after-school art teacher, was headed back out Friday night. “I’d like them to be out in Manhattan somewhere,” she said.

The project grew out of a desire to explain that for many women, “hey sweetums” or “let’s see that smile” isn’t a compliment. “These things make you feel like your body isn’t yours,” she said.

Of course, her target audience may still need convincing. On Friday afternoon, Andrés Carlos, 50, stood by the freshly pasted posters on Tompkins Avenue. “A woman likes nothing more than being told she is beautiful,” he said. “For me, this is ridiculous.”

A friend of his, Richard Johnson, 29, passed by. Mr. Johnson is married, and no longer calls at women on the street. But he did his share of aggressive flirtation. Did women respond negatively? “Sometimes,” he said. Did he stop? “No,” he said. “I’m persistent.”

Vertias releases Zimbabwe Draft Constitution App – Check out their announcement:

Veritas has made available an App for Android smart phones and tablets so you can download the COPAC draft constitution that is being put to the Referendum.

Read it, and share it
- wherever you are
- at your convenience

There is an index of Chapters, Parts and Sections and Schedules – just click on what you want to read or study

Use it as a handy reference at discussions and meetings

Express your views about the Draft on the App Forum!

The App will carry a link to a Forum on which you can compare and discuss your views on the Constitution with other users.

How to Download the App

If you have one of the following:
- An Android mobile phone running Android version 2.2 (Froyo) and later
- An Android tablet running Android version 2.2 (Froyo) and later

The App called Zimbabwe Constitution [Draft] is available from the Google Play Store.  For more information and download links go to www.veritaszim.net

Note: An App available for later models of Nokia and Blackberry smart phones and Blackberry tablets will be announced soon.

We regret that because of the rush between the finish of the constitution-making process and proclamation of the Referendum the App is in English only and also that we could not adapt it for use on Apple iphones.

Intelligence always had a pornographic influence on me.
- Maya Angelou

Anglican Bishop Julius Makoni talks to Zeinab Badawi about the challenges of life in Zimbabwe. Watch the HARD Talk interview here