Forget the crazy Femi-Nazis, forget Liberal agendas, and forget "Meninist" supporters who troll the Internet looking to upset people. As a young woman in today's society, my safety is in jeopardy, it seems, nearly every time I step outside.
Just to clarify before I get started, "catcalling" is the making of whistles, shouts, or comments of a sexual nature to a woman (or group of women) as they are passing by. This includes honking a car horn as a woman walks down the street, shouting things like, but not limited to: "Hey hot stuff," "Why don't you walk past me again, babe," and "Damn, that ass is phat."
Whether or not you are a man who has engaged in such behavior, or you are a woman who has experienced catcalling first hand, it is important that more people talk about this sort of thing. Every Sunday when my old roommate and I would walk to Dunkin' Donuts to get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich, we would count the amount of times we were honked at. One day, we were honked at six times on our way to Dunkin', and four times on the way back. And when I was 17 years old, I made the following Facebook post:
It may go without saying, 17-year-old me felt very strongly about this issue, and I remember very vividly the incident, which sparked the Facebook post. My friend and I were going to McDonald's after school to get some food. We went to school in South Wilmington, Delaware, which, naturally, is not a safe place for two teenage girls to simply hang out. As we were getting out of my car, two men in their mid-twenties whistled and clapped as soon as they saw we were wearing tight khaki pants, our Catholic School uniform.
Granted, I shouldn't have flipped either of the men off, or tried to fight them, but the message was clear. I felt violated and threatened, and reacted in a way many girls do. Others may react with fear, disgust with themselves, or feel as if they are being targeted. All of these feelings are valid and are why we, as a society, need to talk about this more.
When men whistle, shout, or make comments at a girl, they are showing themselves as threatening. They know she isn't going to smile and wink back at them, and they know her reaction will not be positive. It is, whether they are aware of it or not, them asserting their dominance over the female, and exposing her as weak. They are proving to her that they are in control, and that is what is scary. Some men obviously do not care about our safety, and obviously do not respect us as their equals.
We are human beings in just the same way that men are, and we deserve to be treated as such. If men think we're good looking, they should try smiling and waving. If they're just trying to "get some," then they go somewhere else. Chances are, we're not interested.
It's sad that we have to live in a world where one of my guy friends had to tell me: "Get a taser, or a stun gun. Keep a knife on you. If you ever go into a city like Philly, take me or someone with you. I'm a big guy, they won't mess with you."
Is that the kind of world men want their daughters growing up in? Are those the kind of men you want they sons to be?
