I am a 21-year-old female who used to like to listen to music when she would go on walks and didn't really pay attention to her surroundings. Now, I live in a world where I can't walk 100 feet from my house when it starts to get dark because I've been taught to fear men.
When I was 13, I was walking to the post office (near my house) one evening, around 6:30. It was just like any other day–nothing too unusual–until a car of three guys stopped and tried to pick me up. I was terrified and didn't know what to do. Luckily, other cars started to show up, so they drove away. I'm no longer allowed to walk alone.
Two years ago, I had a night class from 7:00-9:50. Every week, I would be the only girl to show up. I couldn't bring myself to skip. Every night when I would leave, a group of guys would follow me a little too closely and talk to hushed voices. That was the year I got pepper spray for Christmas.
For the last seven years of my life, I have been taught to never walk alone, always be alert, and be on edge when I notice guys looking at me. I've learned to live in fear.
I've also witnessed how one thing said by a woman can change the life of a man forever. All I have to do is say, "He tried to touch me inappropriately at a party," and whether it's true or not, his reputation is tainted by my words. We live in a world where women are taught to fear men and men can have their lives ruined by one statement (true or false). I fear the day that a girl gets upset with my son over something stupid and says something to ruin his life.
I, personally, know someone who had his high school career ruined because he was nice to a girl. She thought he was a creep and told the cops that he tried to force himself on her. The night it supposedly happened, he was with friends in a public place. Pictures were even taken, proving that he was there. But because of that one statement, the rest of high school was awful for him.
I grew up learning never to talk to strangers, use the buddy system, and most importantly, not to lie. But because of how awful our world has become and because now everyone wants to play the victim, lives are ruined constantly–whether a statement is true or not and made by a male or female.
A lot of my friends don't have the same beliefs as me. A lot of my female friends are firm feminists who want to see the male population crumble because women have suffered. This has caused a lot of my male friends to think that all women are that way. It has caused a poor outlook on the population as a whole.
I believe we should all be treated equally. But I don't think that a woman should be able to say whatever she wants about a male and let it ruin his life. And I think that if a male is guilty of whatever horrendous things he was accused, he should be punished.
We live in a world where everyone wants to play the victim and nobody sees themselves as the villain.
