I talk a lot about social justice, equality issues, feminist issues, and the like. Often I'll state how women are so harassed in this day and age that it's become normalized. To be fully honest with you, except for a very private story that occurred over a period of time when I was younger, I had never really experienced harassment from males, especially not in public. I figured it was because I wasn't really the hottest-looking woman out there and don't really have that much to show off. Over this past year however, I am experiencing this issue more and more. I get called out in the streets (one very nasty example in Seattle back in February) and honked at. And I finally understand, really understand what it feels like to have this happen to you on a daily basis. It feels disgusting. About two years ago I got physically/sexually harassed by an old guy in the streets and while I was walking/rushing away I felt like I needed to take an hour-long shower just to wash this filth away.
I have to admit, you really won't know how a woman feels like unless you've experienced this yourself. To have your own sex targeted, to hear comments about your boobs, your butt, or to be grabbed inappropriately, there's nothing quite like it (in the most negative sense possible). Realizing this also made me realize that maybe the reason so many guys dismiss this problem as something to be brushed off, is because they don't quite know what it feels like to experience this. And I empathize with that. I truly do. I can't blame anyone for not understanding what something feels like.
At the same time I want to challenge anyone and everyone who has never experienced anything like this and who thinks that this is not a big deal to please listen to stories from your moms, sisters, girlfriends, and female friends. I can guarantee you that at least one of them has stories of being sexually harassed or even raped. Statistically, more than half of all Canadian women report incidents of physical or sexual violence since the age of sixteen. http://sacha.ca/fact-sheets/statistics
Please listen to us. I'm asking you to see beyond the veil of jokes, social media normalization of this garbage, or your own biases.
Tonight I went for a run while it was still mostly light outside and ran by a school playground where a bunch of guys were hanging out and smoking. As I ran by I couldn't help but keep looking over my shoulder just to make sure I wasn't being followed. This shouldn't be the case. For a little bit of further reading, I recommend checking out one of my best friend's blog post on this: http://lovedstill.blogspot.ca/2014/05/i-cant-hate-you-because-i-need-you.html
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