In a perfect world, a woman would be able to politely deny a man’s request for her number and go back to peacefully drinking her gin and tonic. But any woman who has, say, stepped out of the house or interacted with strangers in public places, knows that sometimes rejected advances are met with machismo vitriol, and even violence.
That’s why the Feminist Phone Intervention hotline number was created. The next time an unwanted suitor demands your number, and you want to escape the situation, give him the following: (669) 221-6251. “Because,” according to the project’s Tumblr, “(669) UGH-ASIF, WTF-DUDE, and MAJR-SHADE were taken.”
All calls and texts prompt an automated quote by feminist writer bell hooks. Choice words of wisdom include:
“Sometimes people try to destroy you, precisely because they recognize your power — not because they don’t see it, but because they see it and they don’t want it to exist.”
and
“If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency.”
This is way better than the “Rejection hotline.“
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