Why is feeling unsafe normal?
The other day I was walking home from campus alone and all that was on my mind was ways to avoid someone approaching me or how I would get away if they did. This is a concern that women experience every single day. We’ve been taught our whole lives to walk with a friend or stay on the phone, we’ve been taught to take out our headphones and check over our shoulder, we’ve been taught to stay on busy streets so that there are people around. It’s extremely disheartening that we constantly have to put in the effort to change our routines to adjust to the rape culture that persists in society.
Pre-covid, every time I went to a party or the bar I was always lectured by my mom beforehand reminding me to cover my drink, to stay close to my friends, and not be out too late. This is something I just think of as normal, but I know that no men in my life have this same worry. It seems like girls can never just have a night out of fun without these thoughts and reminders constantly flying in the back of their brain. Way too many people I know share these feelings and experiences and the horrible thing is that despite taking all these precautions sometimes it is still not enough.
Even something as simple as the ability to exercise freely is taken away from many females. One of my best friends prefers to run at night and every time she leaves, I am worried about her the whole time she is gone. She runs with one headphone out, she tells me her route and shares her location with me so that I know where she is should something happen to her; she even carries pepper spray.
This should not be the normal.
What should be normalized is feeling safe. That is the bare minimum of human rights, yet so many people have this taken away from them due to the entitlement of others. There is absolutely no reason for life to be this way. This needs to change. Everyone needs to accept and believe that we are all equals on this earth and race, gender, age, or social status does not make one entitled to exercise power over another human being.
-Written By: Anonymous