Man who harassed me,
It is sad that I have come to expect this behavior when I walk down the street. I don't like it. I actually hate it. When you started talking to me, I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. I did not judge you right away. I gave you the opportunity to be a gentleman. Then you threw it all in my face and made me feel like an idiot for giving you the time of day.
What started out as a friendly conversation soon turned into you completely disrespecting me when you talked about my body like you knew it. What gives you, a stranger, the right to talk to me that way? The way you treated me made me feel like a piece of meat. And all I did was be polite to a stranger. My bad. I guess I should have ignored you completely. I should not have acknowledged you.
I do not understand why men do this. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to show all your friends how to make a girl mad? Are you trying to get attention even if it's someone flipping you off? Well guess what? You are not worth our time. You are not worth the glance or the acknowledgement.
Do you make me feel gross for doing nothing? Yes. But I can shake it off. Do you make me scared when you approach me and I'm alone at night? Yes. But I can and will take care of myself. I have to.
Before men like you all I knew about were gentlemen. Then I grew up. Before men like you I was not afraid to walk by myself at night. Then you harassed me endlessly.
So when I walk down the street with a blank expression on my face and my headphones in my ears, even when I'm not listening to music, know that it's because of guys like you. When you get upset because I completely ignore you, know that it's because of the way you talk to me. Why would I acknowledge someone who first of all knows nothing about me and secondly does not respect me at all?
The sad truth is that some women get so used to this because it happens to them every day. But that doesn't make it right. Just because we walk down the street and seem unfazed by your comments, we see you in the corner of our eye. We try to look as though we don't notice you moving towards us to try and talk to us, but we do, and that's when we walk faster. We turn an extra corner or go on another bus because we want to avoid you.
I wish it was not this way. I wish I could walk down the street and feel safe. But that is not the world we live in. Maybe one day it can be, but not today.
