Like most women, I’ve spent my life aware that I’m not safe walking alone in many public spaces, parking lots, alleys, in hallways where there aren’t several people nearby to help me if I pass the wrong man. Heck, I don’t feel safe in elevators, as this is where I was first assaulted as a teenager by a man who stuck his hands down his pants while telling me how warmly he felt about me. That was after he had walked into a tanning room where I lay alone in the dark. I’m not even safe with the people whom I’m supposed to trust, like health workers and bosses.
Why aren’t more men freaked out about this?
Is it because men do not feel afraid themselves? Or worse, is it because they are content with women seeing themselves online and on billboards in underwear or less almost everywhere?…
All men, not just policemen, not just bad men—must change. All men should listen to the real stories of women who have been harassed, abused, or worse. All men are responsible for the larger narrative of the culture in which they live and should reconsider how often they (perhaps unknowingly) contribute to violence against women with their silence, their habits, hashtags, language, relationships, and media consumption.
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