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An Open Letter to the Men Who Don’t Catcall
You’re not the men who shriek from car windows. You’re the men who say nothing while they do.
It’s a real, visceral danger your boyfriend doesn’t understand. Your friends think you should take it as a compliment. Yet, for some reason, it makes you fear for your life.
Maybe it’s because of that one time you didn’t respond to the hollers of the man at the gas station, and he walked up and started banging on your car. Maybe it’s because of that guy from Craigslist who slammed you against a window when you ignored his sexual advances. Maybe it’s because of the three large men in an old Honda who used to wait for you every night in the Food Lion parking lot after you bought groceries, and who once tried to force you into their car. Maybe it’s the married man from your work who followed you home on your bike for five days and threatened to kill himself if you didn’t talk to him. Maybe it’s the boy who ran you off the road on your bike because you ignored him when he told you that you were “fine.” Maybe it’s because-
Nevermind.
Maybe it’s because we live in a world where women fear for their lives every day, because you could die from saying no.
