On being a woman in public

[MadrasT]

4. It started when i was 11 or 12

I remember walking down a country highway from my house to the general store, and groups of guys honking their horn and whistling and yelling things out the window. Not an isolated incident... this was a thing that happened every time my girlfriend and I took that walk, which was a couple times a week.

I hated puberty because it made me change from an innocent little girl who was a human being into a sex object to be leered at.

I don't think men will ever understand how horrible this can feel to a woman. Some men may symathize but if you haven't had the experience, you can't truly *know*.

Afterthought: the phenomenon redqueen talks about it exactly what happened to me. I got over the shock, fear, and revulsion and spent the next 10 or so years worrying about if I was acceptably "hot". Until I said "Fuck this noise, I am not playing this dumbass game anymore." After that, I would only beautify myself for a specific partner *after* I was in a relationship. But not to "catch" one.