My title is very fitting for this blog because this is a daily occurrence that should never happen — whistles to yells and derogatory comments that come from men who have no respect. I learned what this was at a young age when walking to get food with my friends, and I must have been no older than 12. At first, I was unaware and just scared that cars were honking at me. I didn’t know why until I got a bit older and it happened from person to person. As a young girl, I felt uncomfortable but was not yet aware of the weight that a whistle could carry. Now, as a young adult, I feel scared and am more than aware of how heavy it just is. When I got into high school, this became a massive part of my reality, and in specific how it objectifies girls and women. This showed me into a new piece of the male gender that I was clueless on. Sexual assault and harassment can follow after any number of the ways a man can catcall. It is something I have seen and something that has impacted me significantly. Catcalling is a form of hassarment, and men don’t understand the impact that this can have, let alone how it makes us feel. It is not wanted attention, and it is not appreciated. With having said that I do not want to take away from the fact the sexual harassment, abuse as well as catcalling is something that can affect males too. In general, the level of respect people catcalling have at an all-time low and has been happening more as time goes by. With the power of social media and social movements such as MeToo, more attention has highlighted this issue, and hopefully, those who do it will learn the tool it can take on an individual.
Tag: men
Pro Choice or Life
I would like to first start with contradicting the title of this. With all of the debates currently going on in the western world about the abortion ban laws, I would bring my perspective to the growing conversation. Right now, if I am not mistaken Alabama, Ohio, Missouri, and Georgia are trying to get a bill passed to make abortions illegal, as soon as they can detect a heartbeat which can be as early as four weeks, and criminalize women who seek them out. Currently, Missippi was denied on their heartbeat bill; however, the rest of the states have not been and are pushing hard for it. So to get back to contradicting my title Pro-Choice or Life I want to point out that firstly, you do not necessarily need to be either. If you are pro-life, you can be for yourself, your family, and maybe even some of the people you decide to hang out with, however, you can respect others beliefs and rights to their own body like many other rights. I don’t need to believe in your religion to respect that you believe in it, and I don’t need to be gay to accept, nor do I need to be a scientist to respect that you didn’t want to be a doctor. Respecting what someone else is doing does not mean that you want it for yourself, but it is allowing others their personal freedom to do what they believe in for them. Secondly, though abortions can affect men, it does not affect them as much as it does to women in terms of their body changes, and the primary responsibility of childbearing is on her. Men should not be deciding what women can do with their body even if it can affect them. I believe this conversation carries so much stigma from religion and different viewpoints that give a lot of judgment to either side. I think if we could come together and respect all people and their decisions to do what they believe is best for themselves and no one else this would be easier to talk about, because if I respect you enough not to tell you what to do with your body then respect me too and show me the same.
Halle's Blog 