Proud to be a Feminist

[bleedingfilth]

One thing that I hate about living in Toronto is the fact that men feel as though they have sovereignty over my body; as though my mere existence means that I owe them something. I face some form of harassment on a weekly basis, whether in the subway, the bus, streetcar, or walking. Guys ogle me, guys leer at me, guys catcall and whistle, guys

Comments

[mdirvine]

:( I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. This is something that happens a lot in my home country nigeria and I get a lot of it here (US) too.

I wear a nice dress to school and the only reason I should do so is if a guy has to be involved. Im dancing at a club and it means I want a guy to grind on me ugh no. And they really think that when you say no you mean yes but you dont want to sound eager and im like I'm really NOT interested. WHy is that so hard to believe?

"I am not your baby, honey or sweetie. Do not slow your car down to ogle me."
"My role in society is not to pleasure you; I do not exist to serve you. You do not get to use me, no matter what I look like or what I’m wearing or what I’m doing."

You've mentioned aggressive men in Toronto in previous posts. Did you recently move there for work/school?

[bleedingfilth]

Yes, I moved to Toronto last September to finish my nursing degree.

I just want my body to be mine...is that so much for women to ask? No one questions the fact that a man's body belongs to him...why should women's bodies be subjected to the whims and fancy of me? When I choose to give my body to someone, when I say no, these are MY choices and ought to be respected. It's that simple.

We should be able to wear what we want, drink what we want and dance where we want without men thinking that we're sluts who just want sex. There is no such thing as "she was asking for it" unless she actually does...my clothes or behaviour do not mean that I'm asking for anything. Why can't guys understand this? It is so frustrating!

[nistha]

GAH.

I don't have much to say except this:

http://www.plixer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/applause.gif

(I found your journal from FP, and I am pleased to meet another Indian feminist!)

[parallax23]

I totally agree! I live in NYC and guys do this all the time. I find FOBs most guilty of this. They can't even speak English and catcall in their own language (some I understand). I hate guys who act like you're crazy when you point out that women are people too.

[roku]

I only know you from FP and am not that active on Livejournal, so I hope it's okay that I'm responding even though I'm a stranger..

But yeah, I can't believe how backward society still is when it comes to male-female (public) relations. Even though it is -should be- completely unacceptable for a man to behave like that, the fact that it happens shows there's still something wrong with society in general. The fact that, as soon as you vocalize this, you get sniffed at for being a feminist makes me even sadder. But we (the feminists) haven't found a better way of calling attention to these problems yet.. maybe we should all carry a weapon at all times.

Sorry for such a bleh response.
I salute you.