The Male Gaze in Istanbul

The constant hustling teaches male tourists what it's like to be a woman on the street back home

Many years ago, I took a boat from Haifa, Israel, to Athens to save money on air fare. And the first thing I noticed getting off the ferry, as I walked by street vendors in Pireaus, was the silence.

The Greek vendors just looked blankly at me, bored, not saying a word.

In the Middle East, they would be all over you, hawking their wares, asking you your na…