As a young woman in America, it is fair to say that I get catcalled on a regular basis. It can be anywhere from a simple "damn girl, you look good!" to more vulgar things that I would never type for the internet to see. Men typically have this idea that women "have it easy", but in reality we don't.
Sure, we've come a long ways from the 1950s, but we still get paid less then our fellow male workers and we are still raised that being a mother is the best thing that could possibly happen to us. I'm not trying to say that motherhood isn't precious (because it is), but not everyone wants kids, and not everyone wants to get married either.
When a man has the urge to make a comment about my body while I'm wearing leggings and oversized t-shirts, it bothers me. I can't go to the grocery store without someone trying to creepily make a comment about my appearance or look at me up and down. The other day I was leaving the parking deck that I park in at school. It was a nice day, so I decided after a long day of classes that I was going to put my top down on my car and enjoy the fresh air while driving. I get a lot of comments over the car I drive, but that's another story for another time. However, this guy came up to my car, hit the side of it and continued to make comments about how nice I looked sitting in my car. Naturally, I rolled the windows up creating a barrier and I blasted the radio as high as I could to block out his childish comments. I got to thinking about this, and I shouldn't have to do that.
If I was a male, I can almost guarantee you that no one would have said anything to me. I don't want to come across like a super feminist (not throwing shade to anything feminists out there), but some men in this world can really suck. I can't go out on the weekends without a car full of guys driving by trying to get my friends and I to get in the car with them or meet them at a party. Most of the time, believe it or not, I just want to have a good night with my girls. I know, hard to believe.
When a man catcalls me, or looks at me like he's mentally undressing me, it makes me feel inadequate and dehumanizes me. We grow up with phrases like "boys will be boys" and "he only picks on you because he likes you". It is the 21st century and it is time to stop that cycle now. Raise boys and girls to be equal. Stop telling girls that being a sexual being will label them as a "slut", but teaching boys to be careful when participating in sexual intercourse. Women are more than some pretty girl you see on the street. We are someone's daughter, and to the men who feel the need to catcall women: God help you if you ever have a daughter of your own.
