I was walking through my estate in London at around 10am. I was struggling with heavy bags I had to carry to take to a charity shop. As I was walking, I got to a road I needed to cross, there was no one around except a man who was driving a van across that road. I signalled that I would wait for him to pass but he went out of his way to stop to let me cross. I smiled and thanked him as he drove away. Pretty average thing to happen except as I continued walking, the driver turned back, pulled up to where I was walking and rolled down his window. He then beckoned me to come closer, so I did as at this point (I thought he may be telling me there was a problem further up the road.) Once I was closer he said to me, “you have a pretty face, a pretty shape, make sure you have a pretty attitude to go with it”, presumably in response to the way I had thanked him earlier. I was too shocked that anyone could be this audaciously sexist and feel the sense of entitlement to my body and character he did, I stood open mouthed and silent as he waved goodbye and shouted “God Bless”, promptly speeding off down the road before I could even collect the words to argue. This man had outwardly condemned me against gender stereotypical ideals of what is expected of women in being “pretty”. He also expected over appreciation of what he perceived to be a ‘kind’ gesture I never asked for. Reflective of society as a whole isn’t it?
