hipster-junkie:

A sign from Slut Walk Baltimore on Saturday, September 17. 

I was overjoyed to be part of something so inspiring, so in-your-face. Some stories were definitely harder to hear than others. One woman spoke about how she was slut-shamed after she told someone she didn’t want to have sex with him. Another said how she was harassed on a consistent basis during her time working as a waitress. One more woman spoke bravely of her experience in which she was kidnapped, terrorized, and raped for over six hours. After her ordeal, she was called a prostitute by her boyfriend, and, eventually, her rapist was acquitted. When the jury gave their decision, her rapist laughed in court. 

I was brought back to my job last summer. Every morning I woke up, dressed in my ridiculous tuxedo shirt, bow tie, and apron. Every morning I drove to the center of Norristown, going through my head about which resident got skim milk and which wanted Rice Krispies as soon as they were seated. And, every afternoon on the drive home, my fists clenching the steering wheel, I re-lived how my supervisor would forgo using my name (replacing it with “baby,” “honey,” or “sexy”) and how he would make me stay after all the male waiters had gone to polish and re-polish the silverware. 

I didn’t say anything. I let it happen, and it would happen every day, until he got fired (for drinking on the job. What a stand-up man!). When I got home, I shut myself in my room until the following day. I was just so angry all of the time. 

It didn’t stop there. I still get cat-called walking down the street. I often hear murmurs of “bitch” when I don’t respond to a male’s feeble, pathetic attempts to get my attention. And when I walk alone at night, I can’t forget that night in Doylestown when I was chased by three drunk guys - running five blocks in heels until I reached my car and they gave up. 

The world I live in isn’t free of sexual assault. That day is a long one coming. I only hope that one day society will teach people not to rape, instead of teaching people not to get raped. I hope that one day our judicial system doesn’t emphasize the choice of outfit in relation to the cause of the rape. I hope that one day people will stop using rape jokes, because nothing is funny about being violated. I hope that one day people will stop seeing this as a “women’s issue” and see it for what it really is - a people’s issue. 

(via baltiamore)