saturday was a hell of a day to be an artist out in public. well, for me anyway.
firstly i went to frankston and, whilst recording sound outside the station, got told i was a wanker and that i should “go back to melbourne, where you belong!”. hmm.. did i have to think about that suggestion for too long? ah, no.
secondly, recording in st.kilda, on grey vs gurner, i had a full-on argument with a ‘concerned’ (read: paranoid) citizen that i was taking photos/video of him and had to rescue my camera from being busted. even after showing him the very tightly cropped footage of me and my laptop, he was being very unreasonable. he threatened to complain to the uni and was unimpressed that i was unwilling to just divulge my name, course, subject, etc because he was unimpressed.
then, the piece de resistance was the effeminate ice-head on chapel st who sidled up to me (photographing headphones in a window) and said
“hey random lesbian” (presumably because of my short hair [gasp!] and casual attire, not because i was fucking a girl on the street)
to which i replied “hey random idiot”
which of course resulted in idle chit chat and pleasantries, such as cigarettes being flicked at me, jostling, menacingly following me up chapel street and yelling at me “YOU GODDAMN FUCKING… PUSSY MUNCHER!!“.
charming.
i’ve not been quite so shocked at the level of vilification about my sexuality – especially as i’m not a lesbian. although this isn’t the first time that the crime of being a lesbian has been the worst insult random idiots have thought to throw at me, this is the first time i have actually feared for my safety – being intimidated/followed down chapel street isn’t really warm and fuzzy.
thankfully, i have been followed through kings cross in sydney and i just happened to have had a tripod handy, so i just strode of confidently down the street and prayed that the little misogynist would contract syphilis.