No Big Deal

No Big Deal points towards the habitual and normalisation of sexual harassment that surround teenage girls. The catcalling, the dick pics, the rape jokes, and all those other "disturbing little moments that wash over you as no big deal."

For the past 12 months, I have been photographing my daughter, her friends, and others, during bedroom hangouts and afterschool rendezvous. I have been capturing their childish wonders, teenage defiance, and conventional aesthetics; rows of rings, scrappy nail varnish, TikTok selfies, and love hearts…. so many love hearts. Love hearts scribbled on hands, matching heart rings, hearts graffitied on community centre walls, and tiny hearts tattooed onto each other’s ankles.

The love heart conveys the desire for affection and possibly romance. But for a hormonal changing young adolescent, this desire to be desired is complex and messy. They may desire attention, but these does not include being catcalled on the way to school. They may desire affection, but this does not mean sexual harassment. They may desire a DM, but this does not mean a dick pic. And they may desire romance, but this does not mean a rape joke.

In 2021, in response to the testimonies published on the Everyone’s Invited website, Ofsted was asked by the UK government to commission a rapid review of sexual abuse in school and colleges. It found that 81% of girls have experienced rumours about their sexual activity, 88% of girls had pictures or videos sent to them that they did not want to see, and 78% of girls had been sexual assaulted. Reports from National Education Union revealed that sexual harassment is prevalent in schools, and for many students, it is simply the norm.

No Big Deal reflects on the emotional complexities of girlhood and “those disturbing little moments that wash over you as no big deal” (Soma Sara*). In this ongoing project, I’m exploring the freedom and the vulnerability of my teenage daughter and her friends as they shift from childhood yet are nowhere near adulthood.

*Soma Sara is an author and activist. In 2020 she founded Everyone’s Invited – an anti-rape movement allowing survivors of rape culture to share their stories