Today, without even realizing it, I performed an experiment. I decided, since it was such a nice day, that I would walk from my college to a local grocery store that was no more than two miles down the road. I began my walk, just enjoying my surroundings and listening to music to make the walk go by a little bit faster.
At this point, I was wearing jeans, a baseball style t-shirt and a light jacket. Nothing revealing or tight because the jeans were boyfriend style. About ten minutes into the walk, I heard a car honk and I though nothing of it. Not two minutes later another car honked and I looked over and there was a middle aged man looking at me and it was clear that he was the one who honked.
As I continued my walk I got hot so I took my jacket off. Naturally, this should not cause any uproar but since I have a chest that is not considered small, any shirt I wear tends to accentuate it. After about 20 minutes of walking altogether, I had received about five honks and, from what I saw, about ten stares from men anywhere from 20 to 40 years of age. These were just the stares that I caught them in, but I can assure you that there were more that I did not see.
I reached the store and I got what I wanted and I sat down and ate. There was no problem there whatsoever. On the walk back it had grown cloudy so I put my jacket back on. I crossed the highway with no problem but as soon as I step onto the sidewalk, a large truck honks it's horn and I look at the driver and he is staring at me as if I should thank him.
After that experience, I saw a car with three men who appeared to be in their 20s approach the traffic light. I purposely did not look at the car but instead, once I was behind the car, I looked in the side mirror and just as I thought, the one sitting in the passengers seat was staring at my butt. After these incidents, I power walked back to campus and remained in my dorm until it was time to go home for spring break.
How is this acceptable? I think I am a fairly attractive young woman. I am proud of how I look and I am proud of how my body looks. A similar thing happened to me last week as well. I was sitting in my car a red light and a van pulled next to me and I thought nothing of it. I kept doing my hair but after I finished I looked over and saw both men, both in their mid 20s, staring at me and after the light turned green, the one in the passengers seat was still looking at me as the car pulled away.
The same day at work, we were closing the store and I was the only one up at the cash registers. There were three families still in the store and one family was sitting across from the cash registers. From there, they had a perfect view of me as I stood at the counter. I looked back three times and all three times I caught a male in his 20s staring at my butt. Can someone tell me how this is okay in society? How is it okay for males to stare at women who are wearing non-revealing clothes and expect them to feel complimented.
Women should not have to put on jackets and big sweaters to hide their bodies because they feel unsafe when men stare at them. Women should be allowed to wear whatever the hell they want and not have men of all ages stare at their exposed shoulder. We should not have to feel violated everywhere from the grocery story to our own workplaces. Women should not avoid their bosses because they are scared of what could happen.
Why are men taught that it is okay to leer at women and expect to get a phone number? Why is it that women have dress codes everywhere but men can wear what they want because they don't have to worry about feeling violated. This is not something that is ok and so many people look over it. Women should not feel like objects because we are anything but that.
