Welp, today’s “incident” stands apart in a crowded field of hostile encounters with men.
This one shook me to the core and forced me to surrender what little faith I had in the male species within a patriarchal society. At this point, you are all guilty until proven otherwise, until the day comes when I can enjoy a pastry or beverage in public without being forced to feel fear congealing in my bones or be made to cower in silence as my world is shrunk down to a suffocating zero.
F*ck men, f*ck every single man that has ever felt entitled to a woman’s time, her body or her life. I am so f*cking sick of these ritual humiliations. Of split-second decision making that has my life hanging in the balance. Do I engage or ignore? How quickly could this escalate? Does he have a gun? Are there witnesses? Will they come to my aid? AND f*ck having to ask another man to act like my minder or keeper and escort me to my car, like I had to do again today. (But thank you, whoever you were.)
Right now I have a friend visiting Turkey, a country where, due to political instability, bombings happen with enough frequency that it’s a place one might want to avoid. Yet, statistically, he is safer there, in a country on the brink of war, than I am here, in my OWN F*CKING CITY!
Thanks to the privilege of being a woman, I don’t have to fly anywhere, I have my own battleground right here.
Optional: What’s one way you think we can make public places safer for everyone?
Keep raising awareness, keep the conversation going. Tackle the problem at its root: get men and boys to hold themselves accountable. So long as men continue to be the chief purveyors of street harassment, victim-blaming won’t solve the problem. It’s a ‘men’s problem,” not a “women’s problem.”
– Michelle Ryder
Location: Seattle, WA
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more idea.
