I Think It's Sad. | Teen Ink

I Think It's Sad.

December 23, 2014
By Emma.H.96 DIAMOND, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Emma.H.96 DIAMOND, Kalamazoo, Michigan
65 articles 0 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better. -Anne Lamott, from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.


I think it's sad young girls know that it's easier and safer to give a guy a fake number than turn him down. I think it's sad that I have grown up in the mindset that if I'm walking alone near a group of males or even a single male I should pretend to be on the phone in order to avoid being harassed. I think it's sad that girls can't walk down the street without cars honking at them and guys catcalling and yelling disrespectful things. I think it's sad that if a girl dresses nicely or does her makeup and hair her chances of these things happening to her automatically increase. I think it's sad that if I ask a guy why they hit on me in such a disrespectful way I am now the rude one; I am a b****. I think it's sad that there are over two hundred words for a female who is called a "sl*t" but there are only twenty two words for a male "sl*t." I think it's sad that feminism has become a diseased word and that the connotations for it are lesbian, b****, and man-hater. I think it's sad that because I am female I am considered to be born a victim of sexual harassment, street harassment, and unwanted attention and after eighteen years nothing has changed this status. I think it's sad that the way people dress gives off a level of how much attention they want to receive. I think it's sad that men dominate almost every industry, including fashion, and the fact that if I dress in style I am trying to receive male attention. I think it's sad that if I dress out of style I am obviously, to the social norm, going to end up alone with seven cats. I think it's sad that if I go to the gym it's assumed I am either going there to meet guys or to better my body in order to make guys want me. I think it's sad that if a male is noticeably more muscular or larger than I am, I am almost ten times more afraid that he will physically abuse me. I think it's sad that if a male tries to talk to me while we are alone I slowly reach for the mace I carry on my person at all times. I think it's sad that a singular female walking down a dark street in front of a group of males is a rape scene while a male walking down a dark street in front of a group of females is a neutral statement. I think it's sad that females are referred to as "b****es," "h*es," "wh*res," and other horrible names in lyrics but the number of bad names men are called in songs is drastically decreased. I think it's sad that there are still jokes about women being attached to the kitchen while there is no place for a man to be attached to other than anywhere he wants to be. I think it's sad that love songs have to do with a male having ownership over a woman. I think it's sad that love songs have to do with putting a woman down or in her place before saying a man will still love her regardless. I think it's sad that if a girl is over a size six she is considered full figured but men are accepted because they're born the way they are. I think it's sad that when I was going through puberty I prayed to be pretty; not smart, not talented, not a good person, but pretty. Most importantly, I think it's sad that I'm writing this, spoken out of pure experience, spoken with anger, and knowing that in my lifetime, most of these things aren't going to change. 



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.