That thing about that female fear of places. I remember when I was 18 and fresh in the navy I was too scared to go into Chicago by myself, always with someone else. It was too strange a place and big a city for me to feel safe traveling alone in, and i’m someone that constantly walked places alone as a teenager in a mid to smallish town
*hugs* It isn’t fair, and it’s not OK. Is it so hard for everyone to either mind their own damn business and/or treat each other decently regardless of gender, identity, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexuality so that we don’t have to worry about that sort of thing??
Maybe the part that irritates me the most about tonight is that, even as I walked, I couldn’t help thinking that – should something happen to me – the police or whoever heard about it would very likely be quick to ask why I was out so late in the first place. Because clearly a young woman has no right to expect safety while walking her dog because it’s late at night and you should be home with the doors locked.
I walk my dog sometimes at 9 or 10 at night and usually it’s okay but one time somebody pulled up in a truck and wanted to know directions. So I stood like 6 feet back with my dog between us because I sure as hell wasn’t going to get close.
I definitely know that feeling! When I’m walking alone in town or wherever (I did this on campus at university, too) I often take out my cell phone and have pretend conversations. It’s not the best deterrent, but if someone were to have unsavory intentions towards me, they might be less inclined to act if they think there’s a “witness” on the other line.
But then the flip side of that is you don’t want to look like a distracted target either.
