To Be A Wom A Short Story

What does it mean to be a woman? I asked myself this question the first time I was

approached by a strange man. It was an exceptionally warm September, I was wearing my school

uniform, khaki Bermuda shorts and a navy blue shirt, lugging a very heavy book bag with a

sporty duffle bag for basketball practice. Listening to indie rock music playing from my

earphones and going over in my head what my school agenda would look like. I look up and see

a creepy old guy waiting for the bus mouthing something to me. I furrow my eyebrows with the

most confusion. Was he asking for directions? Was he asking for money? No, he interrupted my

walk to school to tell me how beautiful I was. I was startled and confused why this man felt the

need

At first I thought this was just a random occurrence when actually, this was just the

beginning of my whole life as a woman. Unknowingly, I realized that this was part of the

meaning of what it is like being a woman. This was the part of being a woman that you could not

read about. They did not have a class in school about how to deal with catcalling or any street

harassment. In school it is often that schools will enforce a school uniform or dress policy. I

remember reading those sections and always noticing the difference in length from the rules for

boys and the rules for girls. Having a strict dress policy can either teach boys to judge girls at a

young age for what they wear or enable the curiosities and sexual nature have towards woman

therefore constrain woman to dress more conservatively to avoid unwanted attention. This then

teaching young girls that they are responsible for provoking men or boys for sexual or unwanted

attention. But growing up in a slightly conservative household where dressing provocatively was

already frowned upon I did not need to follow a school dress code. Therefore, I never

Conversing with a male friend and presenting

the topic of my essay he said “Well if they don’t touch you, it isn’t that bad.” While this is just

one opinion this was someone that is well educated and certainly not a bad person but whilst

simply uniformed about the woman perspective. Some woman that I have talked to have went as

far as saying “Well sometimes it lets me know that me as a woman can still be “beautiful

enough” to provoke a man to catcall me.” We should exchange dialogue about why it's unhealthy

for our women and girls to look upon men for acceptance or assurance of our beauty, and ask

how we can help change this perspective. What would help address the issue of catcalling? First

and foremost it can be open to young boys that can sometimes realize they are sexually harassing

woman when telling her to “smile more.” What can be perceived as harmless, on the other side

of the spectrum can instill fear of escalation if ignored. It can be brought up for discussion to

help both men and women understand and respect each other. Too many people accept catcalling

as the norm, woman grow to use it as confidence booster and men as continuing their