Advanced Essay #4:Alexa Lahr

This essay for me meant a lot being able to talk about something that I am very passionate about.  I’m happy I was able to really dig deep not just on catcalling but also non-violence.  This whole process of writing I can say was really good for me because as I wrote, my beliefs grew.  I think it is very important when you really feel what you are writing and get into it and I feel that’s what I did.  The goal of my paper was to show why women are silent when they are being cat called.  That the act of silents was oppressed on women by men.  I think I did really good on this essay it’s my favorite one out of all my advanced essays.

A woman walks down the street with her head down avoiding the eyes of men around her.  Looking at the ground like she is trying to memorize each step she takes.  Her hands are in her pockets making her body as small as possible.  She would do anything to not be noticed by the men around her.  This won’t help though, no matter what she does she will be noticed with her long hair and inviting eyes.  Her friends tell her, “Why don’t you just make yourself look ugly?”  She’s tried that, not putting makeup on and wearing sweats, trying to do what it takes to be a blur to the men around her.  Why should she have to underdress to not get attention by men.  It doesn’t work anyways, they will always holler no matter what you look like, “Yo baby girl with the book bag!” “Yo ma’ can I get your number?!” “You want a ride sweety!”  Women are trained to be silent in these moments.  In the source, Here is What Street Harassment is in Eight Counties, it says, “The general public is pretty lax about it and girls are often advised to ‘just ignore it’”  In the midst of street harassment is silence the best non-violent response?  

In this world we live in, women have always been looked down on - from not being able to vote to not earning equal pay.  It is hard to escape such oppression with all the past lingering events women went through.  Not all men realize when they catcall, they are saying the unspoken history of sexism.  Men try to grab the woman's attention and most of them won't take no for an answer. This shows how men think they are a higher power to women.  As soon as a woman walks outside of her house, men start to view the woman through a gender lens, that is,  being looked at as a sex object or just someone that a man feels the need to take control of.  

Through all these years of oppression women were trained to keep their  mouths shut.  I am an advocate for the non-violent community, but do we truly  think this is the best way to fight with non-violence or is the “silent response” something created by men?  Your brain learns from the world around you and the people who raised you.  Being in a world where women are told to look a certain way and act a certain way, can shape women into beings who don’t have a voice.  Why should we just accept this?  Why do we go with the way history wants women to respond, by looking forward and putting our headphones in.  Women need to fight against this oppression!  As a women in this men ruled world, I can say that I have experienced this restriction to my words.  For instance,  when I am walking down the street and get cat-called and even followed sometimes, I still find myself tying my eyes to the ground and moving forward.  As someone who is all for women’s rights why do I do this? I find this question going through my head over and over again.  I find that I am scared -I’m scared of the response from the man.  Again, I restrict my words because I am afraid of the MAN’S response!  In the TED talk “Fighting With Nonviolence” Scilla Elworthy tackles the right way to handle things with non-violence and one of them is confronting your fear.“Sit down with the fear like a child you're the adult you're in charge.  You ask the fear what it wants.”So as women we need to confront our fear of men, look fear in the eye, and say “I am the adult and what do you need.”  We have to do what is best for ourselves we can’t sink into our fear forever because then are tongues will always be tied.  Confront the fear and  and push it out by standing up for yourself.  I’m not saying you got to yell at the guy but know when the right moment is to speak up for yourself.  

Knowing the history of women and where women are at today, we can still see the rooted sexism in our world.  So I would say that silence is not the right non-violent response, instead it is the responce of years of oppression.  This quote from Martin Luther King Jr.  says that we have to know how to fight the hate. "Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” I believe this with my whole heart.  Don’t let the oppression of years from men affect your pure women power.  Becoming immune to the men around you that are catcalling isn’t the right response, stand up and make a change.  Not for just yourself but for all the women out there.

Biography-

​"What Does "Nonviolence" Really Mean?" ​PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

Elworthy, Scilla. "Fighting with Nonviolence." ​Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with Nonviolence | TED Talk | ​ TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

Rossalyn Warren, Marie Kirschen, Lane Sainty, Jina Moore, Rachel Wilkerson Miller, Hannah Giorgis, Nirali Shah, Bibiñe Barud. "Here's What Street Harassment Is Like In Eight Countries Around The World." ​ BuzzFeed. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.