Last Thursday evening around 5:30 pm, I was involved in a fender bender. Once the policeman arrived on the scene, he asked me and the male I accidentally hit move our cars from the busy intersection to the gas station about 30 feet from the scene.
As I am pulling into the gas station parking lot, I see a truck full of four redneck men eyeing me. While I felt extremely uncomfortable with their stares, I believed they wouldn’t say anything outright because a policeman was on the scene.
However, this is not what happened. As I am walking over to the police car to deliver him my license, registration and insurance card the truck full of misogynists drive about ten feet in front of me and the cop and start to yell at me, while making jacking off hand gestures to me. As they are driving off one yells, “HEY BABY I WANT YOU TO CHOKE ON MY DICK!”
And see, I am actually getting my Masters in Women’s Studies at a local Women’s College, so you would think I would have known what to say to the truck of shit heads, but I was so embarrassed and shocked that I didn’t know what to do.
I looked at the cop and said, “Aren’t you going to do anything??!” and he just laughed and said he had to fill out too much paper work because of the wreak. HE JUST LAUGHED AND DID NOTHING.
I was in shock.
Everyone in the gas station lot was looking at me. I was no longer looked at as a human, but as an object. Because of my vagina, I deserved to be degraded.
The only thing that even mildly helped is that the male I hit said, “Please forgive my gender. We are a bunch of dumbasses.”
I am catcalled at least twice a week in Roanoke, VA, and no one does anything about it. I ask the animals to stop and it just makes them take it further. I’ve even had firemen at the local fire department catcall me.
I’m angry and upset because the Cop, who stands for what is just and whose job is to protect others, did nothing. Even worse, he laughed like it was no idea. Men have no concept of what it is like to be objectified by males. I literally black-out and have to “reboot” when I’m catcalled.
Does that make sense?
I feel hunted and no one does anything to defend me. It baffles me to know that men can objectify women in broad fucking daylight, in front of a police officer and nothing is done.
I’m at a loss for words.
– Logan Lambert
Location: Roanoke, VA
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Beckie says
I’d write a letter to editor at local paper sharing this story and when you send it copy the chief of police. Let him know you aren’t going to sit by. It’s not too late. That policeman was out of line and you can report him.. Sometimes the idea of bad press will scare public officials into at least an apology.
Greg says
I agree with commenter Beckie. Let it be known that women in Roanoke can’t even walk the street, in broad daylight, in peace. And let them know what happened in the presence of a sworn officer of the law who not only did nothing but laughed in agreement. Send your letter to the editor of the Roanoke Times, copy the police chief but I would also suggest sending a letter to Landmark Communications in Norfolk. Not only do they own The Roanoke Times but they own cable/broadcast TV, Internet and other print media resources. Someone should have stood up for you on-scene but sometimes things don’t change because enough noise hasn’t been made. Roanoke is not alone in this but I’m sure city officials there don’t want this kind of spotlight on their city.
Lisa BudgetJustified.com says
I’m not surprised about the cop. Rarely does anyone in a position to do What’s Right ever foster an environment where people actually do the right thing.