I’ve been harassed on several occasions and like most women I’ve sadly gotten used to it.
But I’ll never forget the first time it happened to me, when I was as young as 12, going to my first guitar practice appointment. I was wearing blue jeans and a white tunic shirt. I had grown breasts pretty fast but how could these men not have not known I was a preteen?
As I walked to the building I felt eyed, like my body wasn’t my own, yet I hadn’t even looked up to know it for certain. I heard a whistle and some giggling and saw two men with blue collar clothes and steel-toed shoes, I’d guess they were in their 30s or 40s.
I didn’t know how to feel. Were they making fun of me or did they, grown men, find a child attractive? I hated them but should I? Or should I want this attention? I felt disgusted with both myself and them and when I told my mother about it she was surprised but clearly didn’t think cat calling was any big deal.
And for years I thought it was nothing, but now I realize my first instincts were right.
– Anonymous
Location: Upstate New York
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Concealed Weapon says
“””Or should I want this attention?”””
People want different things. If you don’t want that attention, you deserve to have that respected. It’s actually normal to not want that attention. Even in cases where those involved are close in age, the vast majority of women do not want that attention. Of course, if you did want that attention, I wouldn’t judge you, because you have that right too.
“””I felt disgusted with both myself and them”””
There is nothing disgusting about you. They’re the ones who are disgusting.