Yesterday, I left work early because my dad called to tell me he just found out he had cancer, and potentially only months to live.I cried the whole way to my best friend's apartment--about an hour subway ride.
I managed to pull myself together as I got off the train, so I was no longer openly sobbing. As I walked down the platform, a man grinned and said to me, "You got some pussy on you!”
Then he said it to the next woman who walked past him.
I don't care what he said. He was particularly gross, but even if he had just been one of those creepy guys who says "good morning" or "hello" to every woman he sees, it is rude and intrusive and dehumanizing to talk to me with sexual intent when I haven't given any indication of interest. Actually, given the circumstances, if he had been one of those "Smile, beautiful" assholes, I might have clocked him.
It's rude because it doesn't recognize that women are people, with personal lives and feelings and complexities. It was a bad day for me yesterday, but this guy didn't care. Guys who say this stuff don't care how the woman they're harassing feels. They don't care if her kid is sick or she just got raped last night or her dog died or she got laid off. They just care about feeling all masculine and hetero by expressing their 'interest.'
He made the worst day of my life so far a little worse. And he doesn't care.
Written by Ashley
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