Catcalling and harassment must be stopped on the street of Athens.
Walking home last week on State Street, a car with several men inside drove by me and yelled something. I had headphones in and wasn’t quite sure what had happened until the car made a quick U-turn, drove by me again and yelled at me. I couldn’t make out what they yelled but I quickly yelled back and searched for my Mace. I thought they had turned around yet again, so I spent the remaining time of my walk home on the phone with my roommate because I was frightened they’d return.
Street harassment, or catcalling, is so frequent on this campus and in Athens, I expect it every single time I go anywhere at night. I once overheard a college-age woman exclaim to her female friends, “Unless a guy says he wants to rape you, you should take it as a compliment.” That kind of attitude toward a systematic way some men choose to silence women on this campus is horrifying.
Street harassment is exactly that: harassment. It’s not a compliment. It’s not cute. It’s not a “guy thing.” It’s what harassers do. Every single female (and many men and non-binary folks) I know has been harassed on the streets of Athens. It’s ridiculous that I need to ask my male friends to walk me home for fear of what may happen to me otherwise. Street harassment allows me to be aware of how many men on this campus have so little respect for their fellow human beings, that they go out of their way to yell at them, and make them feel unsafe.
This type of harassment comes from the mindset that some people just don’t belong in public spaces and that they think they have a right to another person’s body. Leering, honking, yelling, whistling, sexist comments, “hey baby” and other disgusting actions of the sort all constitute as street harassment. In my time in Athens, I have been yelled at, honked at and followed home.
The most frightening situation I experienced was walking down Court Street on one of my first weekends here. A few very tall men came up to my female friend and I, yelling “hey girl” and “baby.” We tried to ignore them until they formed a blockade with their bodies so we couldn’t get around. They may have not directly said they wanted to rape us, but their actions made it clear that they wanted to talk to us no matter how uncomfortable, or how much we wanted to get away from them.
I’m sick of being afraid walking home and so is the other 65 percent of all American women; and the 25 percent of men that also experience street harassment, according to The Washington Post.
That is rape culture. Street harassment comes from the mindset that women, LGBTQ and people of color do not belong in public spaces. That we should change how we dress and act to avoid such harassment. But it is not our responsibility. It is the responsibility of the people harassing others. You aren’t being funny. You aren’t being a man. You aren’t being edgy. You are making people feel unsafe, and putting them in perceivable danger. Stop it. F--king stop it.
Jessica Ensley is a senior studying journalism. Email her at je726810@ohio.edu
