Living in a large city like Chicago has its advantages, including access to public transportation, restaurants, stores, night life, etc.
Large cities also have their flaws, such as litter and expensive living.
Even though I love big cities and being surrounded by a variety of people, I can do without encountering street harassment from random men on buses/trains or when walking to a destination.
I define street harassment as unwanted sexual gestures, comments, looks, noises, etc. towards anyone while in public.
Street harassment, unfortunately, is nothing new to me. I have been approached by men when I have showed off my legs and/or breasts. The difference between my younger self and today is that I am more vocal. Growing up, I was shy and timid. I feared and avoided conflict. Rarely, would I express anger. Today, I still hate conflict, however, I am more confident with speaking up for myself, especially when it comes to men trying to take advantage of me.
I was walking downtown to go to my gym. I turned around when I heard people behind me. A man in a wheelchair and his friend that was pushing him “accidently” bumped into a woman.
I thought to myself, “How do you accidently bump into someone if they are in front of you?”
The sad part about it is was the woman seemed apologetic and too forgiving of these slime balls.
I kept walking.
Somehow these 2 men were a few feet ahead of me. The man in the wheelchair spoke to a woman at a parking meter. “I do not mean to sound perverted, but you are really wearing those jeans.”
You’re a creepy, unattractive man with tattoos on his face who is drawing attention to a woman’s butt. How can you NOT sound perverted?
I kept walking.
I turned my head and noticed through the reflection of the store windows the two men were moving quicker and closer to me.
I caught on to their slimy behavior and was mentally preparing myself to punch them in the event they “accidently” bumped into me from behind.
Calming myself down, I realized I did not want to fight.
I stopped walking.
So did the man and his friend in the wheelchair.
The walking man said, “Ladies first.”
“No, you can go,” I said.
We went back and forth.
Fun fact: My birthday is in May and I am a Taurus. I have no problem being stubborn. I dislike being late for my workout classes, but that day, I had NO problem waiting on that street until they moved. I was willing to wait 2 hours just to prove a point.
Finally, the men gave in and realized they were not going to get me to walk in front of them so they could continue their perverted ways.
Before they started walking again, the man in the wheelchair said to me, “Girl, you know what you are doing out here.” In other words, this was his creepy way of complimenting me saying that I knew how good looking I was.
As they walked down the street, I made sure they did not leave my eyesight. I watched then turn onto a smaller street and walk East. When I was confident they would not follow me, I continued walking to the gym feeling proud of myself that I did not allow some random men take advantage of me.
What have been your experiences with street harassment? What did/do you do to protect yourself?