I am 20 years old, and when I walk down the street and I am wearing a nice dress, nothing too provocative, but just a simple dress, I get whistles, people address me as baby, and people yell things at me from their cars or honk when i pass, which is very embarrassing when I am with a friend or when anyone I know is watching me.
It makes me almost paranoid to walk down the street with someone because I know I am going to get a catcall or yells from someone in their cars or passing by and it is humiliating.
The only other thing i can do is put a paper bag over my head and my bottom. Because this happens everyday, it’s just when i wear a dress it happens more frequently and ostentatiously.
This guy was whistling at me over and over and i chose to ignore it until a guy walking by said, “Hey! You know he’s whistling at you, right?”
I can’t avoid it even if i want to.
I’ve heard comments like “You can ride on the handlebars of my bike if you want” and when i am just waiting for the bus a guy comes up and says, “Hey this describes you” showing me a perfume for “hot women” and i try to ignore them but then they say i am mean.
I walk to my house and a mailman gets out of his delivery truck and yells at me, “Hey baby!” and I say leave me alone and he continues to harass me until I walk away more quickly. I think it’s degrading and i want it to stop. If someone thinks I am attractive they can stop and talk to me politely but whistling, harassment, and referring to me as “baby” are not polite and they are not compliments.
It’s not that I don’t feel safe physically, it’s just i don’t feel safe mentally, or emotionally. I don’t feel safe to walk down the street in not even heels, but wedges, because guys pass by me really close and mutter incoherently, and I get whistles from cars, and it is agony. This shouldn’t be happening.
– Anonymous
Location: Miami, FL
