My most recent brush with Street Harassment was this last Tuesday aka, Mardi Gras. It actually turned out to be kind of funny.
So I was on my way to meet friends. Even though I live in NOLA, I still can forget where certain streets are. I had to back track to find them. As I’m passing a group of young guys one calls out to me, “You made a huge mistake walking by yourself little girl.”
I was actually on my cell at the time. The guy proceeds to lunge at me. I’m guessing I was supposed to jump or scream in fear. That kind of behavior pisses me off.
I responded with, “Get the F*#K away from me! Don’t ever think you can approach a woman like this again, you piece of sh*t! You’re lucky I don’t kick your ass … with heels on. Now shoo” (that’s my sanitized response, pretty sure I cursed a bit more).
His friend tried to block my way, I told him in my coldest voice to “Move” then, pushed him aside. They listened. They looked shocked, even a bit embarrassed.
My friend on the phone thought I was talking to him! I had to explain what happened – that was the funny part.
The reality is that certain guys get off on trying to intimidate women. They are sick. Hopefully, that guy learned his lesson and didn’t harass any other women that night.
– Megan
Location: Royal Street, New Orleans, LA
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Sue says
Wow! Well done, Megan. I think you just became one of my heroes 🙂
Margaret says
That is so awesome! Way to put those asshats in their places.
Clarice says
Lol, well done megan! Good for you for standing up to these jerks 🙂
Amelia says
I’m so impressed your response to that guy’s behavior, Megan! I wish I could respond with similar anger to something like that. He’s a real jerk but hopefully you made him (or at least some of his friends) aware of how threatening and inappropriate that type of behavior was. If acting like that is just a ‘joke’ to them, then they are really sick & incredibly unaware of the real danger of sexual violence that women live in.
“The reality is that certain guys get off on trying to intimidate women. They are sick.” That is true & something I can’t understand at all… if I was a guy I would be super-cautious to make sure no girl ever felt threatened by me, so I can’t understand guys who deliberately go out of their way to use their gender & relative size to scare women. It’s really sick.
Megan says
Thank you for your support. In New Orleans I sometimes feel like I’m living in the Victorian era. Cops promote and allow men to act like that. I had one tell me to always dress conservatively or have a man escort me to and from work. The people that live and work here are cool. Tourist, especially drunk males, act like they can behave however they want. I know I can’t count on police officers down here, so I have to be able to take care of myself. It has taught me how to read harassers pretty well and determine if they are a threat. Thanks for all your nice comments!