Its two o’clock in the afternoon and I am walking down a fairly crowded street. I have one of my earbuds in quietly listening to my music. I am minding my own business just walking to Starbucks for a quick caffeine boost when all of a sudden I hear a man yelling at me. Not just yelling at me, but yelling about me. Yelling about my body.

Its a little past midnight and I am at a club with the girls. I am laughing, dancing, and singing along the the Justin Bieber song that is playing. My friend spins me all around. Suddenly I feel someone’s hand running through my hair. I turn around and see a young man with his fingers laced through my hair.

Its ten in the morning and I am walking to school. I stop by the local café to grab some breakfast. A man at the café who was sitting far away from me gathers his stuff and moves to the table next to me. He comments on my order and tries to have a conversation with me. When I try to politely tell him I would rather eat alone he calls me a rude name.

What do all these encounters have in common? I, a young female, was trying to live my life and a man has prohibited me from feeling comfortable because he felt entitled to my attention. I never expressed any interest in any of these men before they decided to approach me or make inappropriate comments to me. Why do these men think it is ok to disrupt me and harass me?

Some people would say it may be because I was dressed provocatively. (For the record, in all these circumstances I was dressed fairly modestly.) Some people would claim I invited it upon myself if I made eye contact or somehow flirted with my body language. Finally, some people would claim its just male culture.

All of this reasoning is complete and utter CRAP. I should be able to dress however I want with out men commenting on my body. I should be able to smile at someone without them thinking that I want them to objectify me. And simply calling harassment “part of male culture” does not make it acceptable.

Females live in a society today where we expect to be harassed and objectified and this is not ok. Males are being brought up thinking it is ok to make a pass at a woman they find attractive regardless if she has expressed interest in him or if she doesn’t even know he exists. Men are being trained to think that they are paying a woman a compliment by calling out to her on the street or randomly approaching her. However, this mentality is wrong. Women do not feel appreciated or flattered when this happens. Instead, we feel violated and often embarrassed. Quite frankly, I also feel enraged.

Women are taught to ignore it. We are told not to give the man the satisfaction of a response. We have heard that he will leave us alone eventually if we pretend he isn’t there. But why should we have to deal with this? Obviously ignoring the problem isn’t working because men are still objectifying and harassing us on the streets.

We need to let them know that their behavior is unacceptable and teach them how to be respectful to women. We need to take a stand against this abuse. Women need to support each other and let men know that we are done putting up with their unwanted advances.