Catcalling. The word itself is dehumanizing. It's the act of calling out to women, oftentimes inappropriately and with intentions to make the woman feel uncomfortable or obligated. Women are catcalled on the street, in their car, in stores, in the elevator, on public transportation—you name it, and a woman has probably been catcalled there.

As a young woman living in New York City, I experience catcalling almost daily. Growing up in the suburbia of Long Island, I had experienced catcalling, but never to this extent. It's to the point that sometimes I can't walk the four blocks to school without at least a form of catcalling.

Let's stop playing pretend and call it what it is: sexual harassment.

There are verbal and non-verbal forms of sexual harassment that I have experienced. Sometimes a mix of both. Some non-verbal examples are eyes dragging down my body, men licking their lips at me, puckering their lips as a way to 'blow me a kiss', grabbing their junk, winking, whistling, slowing down their pace so they can look at me longer.

The verbal sexual harassment is just as bad. I don't think I have to list out everything that has been said to me for you to understand. It's not only disturbing, but completely unnecessary and rude.

In October of 2014, Rob Bliss Creative released a video called "10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman". This came out around the same time that I moved to Brooklyn. It was eye opening, for sure, but I had already related to this video after only living there for two months. Isn't that interesting?

The video concluded that the woman encountered over one hundred instances of verbal sexual harassment in the 10 hours she walked.

Needless to say, the video went viral and raised awareness for this women's issue that has been around since, well, forever.

So why am I so done with catcalling? There are a few things you might be thinking at this point. Either a) this isn't that big of an issue, b) why can't you take a compliment?, or c) YAS GIRL PREACH.

Actually, this is a huge issue. It always has been, but it's escalated a lot recently because the culture of women has changed. We are the daughters of incredible women who fought for us to be able to have strong opinions, raise our voices, and be unapologetic. While women in the past were taught to look down, carry on, and let it happen, we were given the power to speak back, or at least talk about this issue.

It's a huge issue because it teaches women, from a very early age, that they are meant to be sexual beings solely for men's pleasure. The classic 'Smile, baby' catcall is a reflection of this image that women are taught to strive for. Always be happy, open, sexual, romantic, waiting for a man to notice you.

What catcalling has done to our society is irreparable. Huffington Post started a hashtag called #FirstTimeIWasCatcalled which allowed women to share their stories. Some recall being catcalled as young as seven years old. Most of the stories were between the ages of 10 and 16. A lot of the occurrences took place while they were walking to and from school, somewhere that a child is supposed to be safe.

@etherealdad said "#FirstTimeIWasCatcalled there's no longer a 'first time' that i remember. it feels like a secret you have to keep -- it's that disgusting."

And that's true. And that leads me to the next topic-catcalling is NOT a compliment.

Unless you have been catcalled or sexually harassed yourself, you will never know how it feels. It makes you feel bad. Just as that tweet states, it feels like you are doing something wrong and you must keep it to yourself. You feel dirty, and you hear those words over and over again in your head because it's so disgusting and inhumane. You feel powerless and objectified.

Some women have the strength to fight back. Some women raise their voices and intimidate the harasser. Other women, like myself, gather themselves up and walk away quickly, afraid of the harasser getting violent.

I shouldn't ever feel this way. I should never feel threatened like this. Don't these harassers feel a touch of empathy? Do they know that I'm a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, student, friend, writer; do they know that I'm a human? That I'm so much more than the objectifying image in their head?

In this society, women are constantly needing to hustle to get recognition. We work hard to stand our ground, own it, and be empowered. The last thing we need is somebody jeopardizing our confidence.

We need our male allies to stop harassment in any form, and discourage others from catcalling. We have to protect ourselves, our mothers, and our daughters.

I want to leave my home feeling confident, and I want to return feeling the same way. I want girls to feel safe and encouraged to walk to school. I want women to take the fastest route to work, even if it's past a construction crew. I want men to empower women, and women to have healthy encounters with men.

We all have to walk these streets. We all have to drive our cars and take the elevator, and shop in stores, and ride public transportation. Let us all be kind, supportive, and safe.