Last night I had a great night with a friend of mine. We watched very bad TV and ate very good grilled cheese. At around 10:30 pm, she decided it was time for her to head home, so I walked with her to the train station. It was a short walk and there were people out. I don't mind walking with others late at night. I tend to dislike walking alone because that is when you-know-what happens. After I dropped her off, I turned around to make the walk back. Around two blocks from my home, it happened.
"Hey, baby. How you doing?"
I was on the phone. A deliberate choice on my part to deter catcallers. To no avail. I kept walking and this man kept talking to me.
"Where you going? How are you? What? You can't talk to me? Hey sexy."
I kept walking and he kept talking, until eventually I was far enough that I could not make out what he was saying. This was not entirely comforting.
What did he expect me to do? End my call? Turn around and stop? Drop what I'm doing, about face, and say, "Oh, I'm sorry! You requested I stop, so here I am!"?
I find this to be one of the scariest things about catcalling (I've got a long list). When you have clearly ignored someone and chosen to keep it moving, and the person keeps pursuing you. Either by talking or following. I fear things will escalate. With my back turned toward that guy, I felt vulnerable. I wasn't sure what to do, so I did what I always do. I just kept walking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
ODing here with the links, I know, but I wanted to share this interview: http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=hollaback_moves_forward
ReplyDeleteSo given all this...the question is, do women know about these kinds of movements? What role does the government play in taking responsibility for educating the public, for making the public space accountable?
"Exactly, and you know, for some women, even something like "Good morning" is too much. The world I want to create is a world where people can say, "Good morning," and the implication isn't that it's sexual." Beautiful.
"They've been saying that for a long time, like being in the workplace. People used to say, "You're in the workplace. You're going to get harassed. That's your decision, and you should just put up with it." A lot of people think harassment is the price we pay for living in the big city. I think that taxes are the price that we pay." Oh wait, even better.
Get your blog cross-linked onto their site?!
"I fear things will escalate. With my back turned toward that guy, I felt vulnerable. I wasn't sure what to do, so I did what I always do. I just kept walking."
ReplyDelete:( Scary. Always so scary. Boy do I hate that feeling of vulnerability and fear.