Date: 2007-06-09 22:04 Subject: "Hey, mami" Security: Public

Haven't written in a while - I'm down in Biloxi, Mississippi doing volunteer work. It's awesome, but at the end of the day I'm way too tired to do anything more than shower, eat, and lay around. But tonight got me worked up enough to write.

One of the less nice things about Biloxi is the catcalling and general male harrassment. A walk to Wal-Mart -- three or four blocks -- means getting honked at about ten times, getting hollered at about five more, and usually at least one guy pulls over and tries to give you a ride.

Most of the women I talk to about it shrug it off, but it really gets to me. When two other girls and I were on the beach a couple weekends ago, an older guy kept hollering over at us "Y'all old enough to drink? Y'all thirsty??" and generally being lecherous. When he yelled to another woman, "Hey sweetie, you want me to put some more suntan lotion on you? I can rub it on reeeeeeal good" I'd had enough. I told my friends that if he made one more remark like that I would go over and tell him off. They told me that I should just ignore him, that attention was what he wanted. I disagreed. Sure, he wanted our attention, but it goes beyond that - he wanted us to feel ashamed, and he wanted to remind us of our position as sex objects, to put us in our place. I thought that confronting him would show him he didn't have that power.

I still believe that, but in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't confront him. Tonight, as I walked through the parking lot at Wal-Mart (I know, I know, but it's the only place to buy stuff within walking distance) a man in a parked pick-up truck started hollering shit at me - "Hey, beautiful, where you going?" A failure to respond on my part led to a "Stuck-up bitch," at which point I gave him the finger. So he started his truck and started following me around the (huge, unlit) parking lot, yelling shit at me the whole time. Running through my head is the man who ran over a woman who didn't respond to his catcalls.

I'm fine, and luckily the man didn't follow me inside, nor was he waiting for me when I came out. But it reminded me of something I had briefly forgotten: catcalling isn't the only way men put you in your place. Running you over in a pick-up truck works just as well.

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