It's that time of year again: The sun is hot, the weather's warm, you're finally starting to run again, and some guy leans out of his car to yell obscenities at you since apparently, that's an acceptable thing to do.
I'm talking about catcalling, or, you know, street harassment. The primary targets of this kind of thing (that is, men yelling lewd things about your ass or what they want to do to you) are generally young women, some of whom may still be in high school while the guys who participate in the actual act of catcalling might even be in their 40's.
There really hasn't been a time in my life where it wasn't a thing I experienced, especially during the summer. For a while, I would feel too embarrassed to wear shorts outside even when it got to unbearably warm temperatures (I'm talking close to the triple-digits). When you're minding your own business walking down the street and someone feels the need to honk their horn at you and shout something gross, you stop feeling safe in your own neighborhood.
It's gotten worse since I've started exercising, which on the one hand, is kind of predictable. These guys are scummy. People who say, "Maybe you should watch what you're wearing," in response to catcalling don't get it, maybe because they've never actually had it happen to them. It's happened to me in November. It's going to happen no matter how covered up I am. Besides, there is no way in hell that I'm going to go for a run in July (or May, since we're expecting temperatures at the end of this month to hit highs in the 90's) wearing anything other than shorts. Even athletic leggings cling to the form.
So this is a message to the people who think it's cool to honk at girls and to yell at them or to make gestures involving their fingers and tongues: Knock it off! Nobody wants to see it. It's not cute. Girls don't like it and we don't see it as a compliment. It's predatory and creepy and, depending on the time of day and what exactly you're saying, it can be frightening. How would you like it if some stranger whose face you couldn't even see started telling you what you shout at these girls? You probably wouldn't like it at all.
The next time anyone shouts something at me, I am going to turn into the Incredible Hulk and smash their car. Like, full destructo on it. If they're making people uncomfortable, they'll probably deserve it, and then they can be upset when they have to walk to work and some guy yells something out of their window at them.