Dear Men,
If you are walking down the street and see a woman to whom you feel the need to make a comment to, please don’t.
Dear men at stores, quit looking at me with a look that makes me wish I had a knife in my hand to protect myself. Quit making sexual comments about what you wish you could do with me when really it would be against me. Do not attempt to touch me because I will pull away and look at you like you should be dead. You bring out the darkest thoughts in me.
I wish you would do or say what you just did in front of other people. Why do you walk away from me and pretend like you did not just try to make a move on me when someone else is near? Am I an easy target? Or should I say do I look like an easy target? Do you realize how disgusting your comments make me feel?
The fact that I have come to know you as a danger to my safety is pathetic. You have not touched me in an inappropriate way, but you might as well have by the guilt and disgust I feel for what I am wearing, even when it’s as conservative as a nun's habit. Do not mention my body to me; you have no right.
Why do I have to live in a society where older men think it is OK to do any of this? Do you not have any daughters? I pity them if you do. I really do. Will guys I eat lunch with and talk to on a daily basis eventually become the creepy men I try to avoid but deal with daily? How can I stop them from someday making a girl feel dirty from verbal sexual abuse?
Why, as a society, do we not acknowledge men have this concept they can do whatever they want without it being considered damaging? Why are we, as girls, staying silent? Why do we allow ourselves to be afraid? When will I not have to worry about my safety when I am in a store or walking back to my car after work?
Sincerely,
A young girl
