Sexism In The Workplace

Have you experienced cat calling? Have you ever had comments made about your body that was inappropriate? Almost anytime I swim or leave the house without a male family member or friend, I experience harassment from middle-aged men; I am fifteen. Consequently, I feel uncomfortable and without control. Yelling and commenting on a woman's body not only on the street, but in any public place is an invasion of privacy and a form of sexual harassment, and catcalling shows the subtle sexism that is present in our society that allows men to think they are entitled to comment on our bodies. This issue isn't new, fall of 2012, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh took a stand and began putting posters of her art throughout Brooklyn telling men to stop the harassment (Turkewitz). While this may have helped a few people, or even the …show more content…
Nevertheless, we need to spread this movement out of Hollywood to the streets, to everyday American cities and towns, to everyday people, to young girls and boys, to people of color, to elderly men and women, to everyone. Some people believe that catcalling is a compliment, that women only want to hear that they are “beautiful,” but I do not feel grateful for the “compliment.” I feel scared because I never know what the harasser's motives could be, because I lack the strength or skill to defend myself against adult men. A CDC study from 2012 revealed that almost 20% of women are raped in their lives. I feel afraid because I do not want to be the 1 out of 5, terrified of the possibility of being a rape victim. Why shouldn't we be fearful? An observation of mine is that the best way to deal with harassers is to ignore them, eventually they leave you alone. However, when women respond to harassers, the cat-callers use slurs and violent words, reinforcing the fear and expectation of violence in these