I am always getting harassed on the street by men. When I used to walk and take the bus to work in Orange County, it was just about daily. It’s creepy, it’s rude, and makes me feel very unsafe. It takes the pep out of my step and I tend to keep a scowl on my face if I’m alone just to try and keep anyone from saying anything to me. I shouldn’t have to live that way. Nobody should.
The latest harassment was when I was in Vegas for my sister’s bachelorette party. A (big, tall, muscular) man tried to hand me a “demo album” (most of those are scams, hence the quotation marks), and when I said, “No thank you” he leaned in next to my face and said, “But you’ve got the hair and the makeup that make me want to DO SOMETHING to it.” All I could manage was a “Thaaat’s..f**king creepy.” My sister then started defending me saying women don’t want random, creepy men saying scary, gross stuff to us; My best friend also yelled at him to “f**k off”; He yelled at my sister that she needed to “eat a sandwich” and that nobody wants her anyway (Yeah. The bride.) And to me he said, “Nobody likes you anyways.” I have found that that has been my number 1 response (probably about tied with “bitch!”) from men when I tell them “no, thank you” or, on my extra pissed off da ys, when I just flip them the bird. I don’t accept their harassment so I must not be liked?
I really wish men where more respectful, and I really feel that for a lot of them it must be plain ignorance about how women feel about it happening. I for one had a serious talk with my little brother (14 years old now), about the proper ways to interact with a woman; though he was already appalled at the thought that men do this sort of thing. I guess that’s what happens when your older sisters are big feminists! hahaha!
I think that a big part of this issue is that we need to teach our sons how to interact with women and why, and not just teach our daughters how to defend themselves.
– Becca
Location: Las Vegas (and everywhere else I’ve lived.)
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for more ideas
