i was walking home from a night out with my friends. I was wearing a skirt and we all dressed up nice because, you know, it’s not illegal to! Apparently this looked like a signal of permission for some guys to cat call me. There’s nothing wrong with trying to flirt with a girl but this was definitely not it. I was happy (we had gone dancing, i love dancing) and twirled around while walking. One group of guys was standing close and a guy called out (i live in Spain) “date la vuelta otra vez!” which literally means twirl once more or again. Of course you would understand why (i was wearing a short tartan or scottish skirt, my faves). They were smiling maliciously. And they started giggling. I will take none of this harassment and i legit, calmly, turned around with a big smile and flipped them off. I was kinda surprised i finally started to stop feeling bad and started reacting. Yeah, maybe not the most “ladylike” or expected reaction, but hey, when you cat call harassment, don’t expect anything nice. When i was smaller and things like this happened i used to fell powerless, sad or felt like i was gonna cry, or even felt embarrassed of my face, makeup, body or whatever. I would feel scared and vulnerable of leaving my home with some clothes or doing some things. But it isn’t right. And i’m done feeling sorry for myself or ashamed when it’s not right. Sure left them very surprised. I still giggle when i think about it. Hope it taught them a lesson and taught me not to feel awful but react when i can, or act strategically when it’s not good to react rebelliously (e. someone is following me!). Hope this put a smile on your face too and to all the girls and women who have felt like this, i feel you. But it’s not okay. Most of the time we’ve got to give people a taste of their medicine and a taste of our strength. There are many ways we can do it and sometimes, like this, it’s all about not letting them turn your smile into a frown. Heads up.
