I was in Amsterdam for a short trip. It was around 1 a.m.-ish, and as usual the city was still full of people. I was sitting with my friend (both of us are young adults woman) in the park just by the city center – close to the Madam Tussaud museum.
We were there sitting down enjoying the view and have our conversation. Just a casual day, people passing by and say hi or smile. Then this big guy came up and said, “Hey China how are you?” I know that me and my friend look Asian, but not all Asian-looking people come from China. I got a bit annoyed and I replied him saying “I’m fine but anyway I’m not from China, and obviously you don’t come to people calling their ‘country’, you should rather ask than guess’. He continuously said, “Oh, Filipin?, Thailand?, Japan?” etc etc. And I came back saying, “There you go guessing again.”
Right at that moment we were grabbing our bag and ready to go catch the ferry. While we were walking away from the bench he started yelling, “Hey do you think you are superior? ‘You are NOTHING! You are just a woman. You have vagina.”
Well, in my mind I had a lot of comebacks. I wanted to say, “Yes I have vagina but doesn’t your mom has that too? How do you think you are born?” But yeah, I didn’t. I was too afraid to do so in case he’d come and chase us or do whatever.
My experience shows that verbal abuse towards woman is still a thing. It is just sad for me that some people still thinks that sexist is a normal thing to do. 🙁
I know that it is not a physical abuse whatsoever but still, it brings nerve to my mind. It makes me feel insecure hanging by parks or walking alone. On top of that, I felt helpless since I couldn’t control the situation or turn it around. Nothing I can really do at that point of time.
– Anonymous
Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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