About two or three times a week I walk 1.8 miles to my current work and then the same distance back a few hours later. And every time I make the walk, I always get at least one horn honk or one one greeting yelled out a car window. This isn’t an isolated incident.
And it isn’t always obvious harassment. A lot of the time it’s a man (or more men) offering me a ride. Would they still offer me that ride if I were a man? I doubt it.
I always ignore it. They’re in speeding cars most of the time anyway. If they’re in a stopped car and they keep shouting, it’s very easy to just pull out my ipod and play with it, making it clear that I can’t hear them because my music’s too loud. (I can hear them, but I’d rather not be expected to respond.)
The funny thing is nobody talks to me when I’m using my umbrella as a parasol in bright sunlight on dry days. No guy wants to hit on a girl who’s some weirdo using an umbrella when it isn’t even close to raining.
Every time it happens, I feel disgusted. I wish I could put on an unattractive body for my walks and take it off when I get to where I’m going. Why can’t I just take a goddamn walk? Why do these men feel the need to intrude on my peace? Why do they feel like it’s okay for somebody I’ve never met to yell things at me just because I’m there and I happen to be a woman?
I’ve been making that walk regularly for only a month and a half, and already car horns don’t make me jump anymore. How can they, when I hear them so often?
– Deborah N.
Location: Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA
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