feminism:
the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
over the past few years, my family has been going to a nearby waffle house on the morning of christmas day. this year we were on vacation during christmas (much to my chagrin) and we missed that delicious tradition, but my sister and i continued the trend this morning. it’s something i always look forward to, because you can always count on waffle house being open. as we were leaving, a man who was definitely over thirty called out to us (my sister and i are still in our teens) and said something along the lines of “damn girl” among some other things. at first i thought this was a catcall, but soon i realized that catcalls are something more along the lines of “a shrill call or whistle expressing derision or disapproval” rather than anything sexual. the comments of 10 hours of walking in nyc as a woman come from both sides of the spectrum, including “YOUR job is to keep your fucking mouth shut when I walk past you” and “Harassment? 90% of these guys were wishing you a nice day you stuck up bitch”
one comment explained that this is nothing compared to what he and his boyfriend deal with every day. while i feel for his situation, i also don’t think that attacking this video is the way to showcase what he and his partner go through. i doubt that what happened to me this morning was harassment, but it sure didn’t make me feel flattered. it’s not assault and it definitely isn’t rape, but being hit on by someone at least twice my age made me feel dirty. to be fully clothed in winter apparel and on a mission to have a leslie knope waffle doesn’t equate to “i want someone old enough to be my father to stare at my butt”
a majority of the commenters think that the filmmaker took all these “catcalls” too seriously and that it doesn’t even border on the lines of harassment while others
as i was writing this i started to see things from everyones’ points of views and i’m honestly dumbfounded. am i taking everything that’s ever happened to me out of proportion or is this a serious issue that thickheaded people don’t believe is wrong? but what i can say is that for me it makes me uncomfortable to be hit on by men twice my age. it makes me feel dirty and it also makes me wonder why no guy my age really talks to me. the great thing about that last two sentences is youtube commenters can’t say is that’s not true because that’s my opinion. what a relaxing conclusion.
ramblings 