By Yadira Briseno
Every day it's supposed to be an adventure or a mystery to you, but imagine waking up every day and knowing what's going to happen to you if you decide to wear something too “revealing”; all of these comments, stares,and unwanted attention that women are receiving is affecting them. This is the struggle for most women around the world, especially girls from Yerba Buena High School.
Women often feel like they can't wear what they want because they're afraid they’re going to receive unwanted attention from men. If a woman wears something that shows “too much skin”, they’re either going to get stared at or they’re going to get whistled at. They feel like if they wear the wrong clothes, they’re going to regret it.
People, usually men, tend to treat women as if they were sexual objects, which we’re not. We should receive the same respect we give out to them, but instead we get harassed by strangers.
Most women out there are already self-conscious about their bodies and about the things that they wear. We don’t need this extra unwanted attention that we are receiving from men.
“Every time before I leave my house I look over the mirror and I ask myself, do you really want to wear this when you know damn well you're going to get stared at?” This is the constant struggle that Juliana, a junior in Yerba Buena High School, goes through.
According to ELLE.com, “Some girls get verbally harrassed on a daily or weekly.”
According to my survey--conducted by me--that 42 girls took in YB, 92.7% said that they have been harrassed in their lifetime before and 7.3% said that they haven’t.
The first time that Juliana remembers getting harassed was in seventh grade when she was around 11 to 12 years old. She remembers feeling weird and afterwards she became more self-conscious of her body and clothes that she would wear, she says.
According to VeryWell.com, “81 percent of women have experienced verbal harassment.”
Juliana is part of that 81%. She says, “I feel so disgusted afterwards because some of the people who are saying these things to me are really old.”
Some people blame girls for the harassment that there receiving. They believe it’s their fault because of the “outfits they decide to wear.”
They believe that if a woman didn’t want the attention, then why would they wear something so revealing?
Juliana says, “I don’t think it's our fault because at the end of the day we don’t wake up thinking ‘ohhh let me wear this so I could get harrassed today’. It’s not the girls’ fault but it's the person who decides to harassed them.’’
Most women decide not to talk to someone about the harassment that they are receiving. They feel like it’s not a big deal in general but in reality it is.
“A woman who has been a victim of harassment often goes through the same process of a victim who has suffer rape,” according to Stop violence against women.
According to my survey that I did on girls from YB, 56.1% said that they haven’t talked to someone about it, 22% say that they are not sure, and another 22% said that they haven’t talked to someone about the experiences they have gone through.
“I haven’t personally told someone because I feel like they are not going to believe me. They’re probably going to say that I am exaggerating or that I am probably overthinking it too much,” Juliana says.
A lot of women would want the topic to get recognized more. They feel like it doesn't get enough attention or a lot of people decide to push the topic to the side.
Juliana adds, “Yes, the topic should get recognized more because I think that this issue affects the majority of girls around the world and I feel like they shouldn’t feel like they’re alone.”
The women who have reported it feel like it wasn't properly handled.The women who have reported feel like he officers could’ve done a better job at handling the case.
A lot of the times the officers say that there's not enough evidence to continue with the case, which ends up in women thinking that their case wasn’t handled properly the way it should have.
According to VeryWell.com, “29% of those who did report the harassment, only 15% felt like it was handled properly.”
Getting harrassed personally is something that could really affect girls; it definitely affected me.
If I am being honest, I don’t even remember the first time that I got verbally harassed. All I remember is how DISGUSTED I felt afterwards. Ever since then, I no longer wear things that are “too revealing.” If I do, I wear something to try to cover myself up.
For me walking by myself is my greatest fear. I feel so uncomfortable; I am always looking back to see if someone is following or if I am getting whistled at.
The street isn't the only place that I have been verbally harassed but it has also happened to me in Yerba Buena High school.
The first time that it happened to me in high school was my freshman year. I felt so uncomfortable because I would sit in front of a guy.
Everytime I would have that class, I would zip up my sweater before entering because I already knew I was going to feel uncomfortable. This still happens to me up to this day. Right now I am a Junior at Yerba Buena High School—three years have passed—and I still experience the same things at least once a week.
I soon came to realize that it’s not the clothes, it’s not how you behave, or who you hang out with; your still going to get this unwanted attention from men no matter what.
If you’re experiencing the same things that many of us experience on a daily basis, I want you to know that you’re not alone. If you feel like getting helped, you could contact Yerba Buena social worker, Jen Pastran, at [email protected]. You could also fill out a student support referral here and a social worker will contact you.
We dress for ourselves, not you!
Every day it's supposed to be an adventure or a mystery to you, but imagine waking up every day and knowing what's going to happen to you if you decide to wear something too “revealing”; all of these comments, stares,and unwanted attention that women are receiving is affecting them. This is the struggle for most women around the world, especially girls from Yerba Buena High School.
Women often feel like they can't wear what they want because they're afraid they’re going to receive unwanted attention from men. If a woman wears something that shows “too much skin”, they’re either going to get stared at or they’re going to get whistled at. They feel like if they wear the wrong clothes, they’re going to regret it.
People, usually men, tend to treat women as if they were sexual objects, which we’re not. We should receive the same respect we give out to them, but instead we get harassed by strangers.
Most women out there are already self-conscious about their bodies and about the things that they wear. We don’t need this extra unwanted attention that we are receiving from men.
“Every time before I leave my house I look over the mirror and I ask myself, do you really want to wear this when you know damn well you're going to get stared at?” This is the constant struggle that Juliana, a junior in Yerba Buena High School, goes through.
According to ELLE.com, “Some girls get verbally harrassed on a daily or weekly.”
According to my survey--conducted by me--that 42 girls took in YB, 92.7% said that they have been harrassed in their lifetime before and 7.3% said that they haven’t.
The first time that Juliana remembers getting harassed was in seventh grade when she was around 11 to 12 years old. She remembers feeling weird and afterwards she became more self-conscious of her body and clothes that she would wear, she says.
According to VeryWell.com, “81 percent of women have experienced verbal harassment.”
Juliana is part of that 81%. She says, “I feel so disgusted afterwards because some of the people who are saying these things to me are really old.”
Some people blame girls for the harassment that there receiving. They believe it’s their fault because of the “outfits they decide to wear.”
They believe that if a woman didn’t want the attention, then why would they wear something so revealing?
Juliana says, “I don’t think it's our fault because at the end of the day we don’t wake up thinking ‘ohhh let me wear this so I could get harrassed today’. It’s not the girls’ fault but it's the person who decides to harassed them.’’
Most women decide not to talk to someone about the harassment that they are receiving. They feel like it’s not a big deal in general but in reality it is.
“A woman who has been a victim of harassment often goes through the same process of a victim who has suffer rape,” according to Stop violence against women.
According to my survey that I did on girls from YB, 56.1% said that they haven’t talked to someone about it, 22% say that they are not sure, and another 22% said that they haven’t talked to someone about the experiences they have gone through.
“I haven’t personally told someone because I feel like they are not going to believe me. They’re probably going to say that I am exaggerating or that I am probably overthinking it too much,” Juliana says.
A lot of women would want the topic to get recognized more. They feel like it doesn't get enough attention or a lot of people decide to push the topic to the side.
Juliana adds, “Yes, the topic should get recognized more because I think that this issue affects the majority of girls around the world and I feel like they shouldn’t feel like they’re alone.”
The women who have reported it feel like it wasn't properly handled.The women who have reported feel like he officers could’ve done a better job at handling the case.
A lot of the times the officers say that there's not enough evidence to continue with the case, which ends up in women thinking that their case wasn’t handled properly the way it should have.
According to VeryWell.com, “29% of those who did report the harassment, only 15% felt like it was handled properly.”
Getting harrassed personally is something that could really affect girls; it definitely affected me.
If I am being honest, I don’t even remember the first time that I got verbally harassed. All I remember is how DISGUSTED I felt afterwards. Ever since then, I no longer wear things that are “too revealing.” If I do, I wear something to try to cover myself up.
For me walking by myself is my greatest fear. I feel so uncomfortable; I am always looking back to see if someone is following or if I am getting whistled at.
The street isn't the only place that I have been verbally harassed but it has also happened to me in Yerba Buena High school.
The first time that it happened to me in high school was my freshman year. I felt so uncomfortable because I would sit in front of a guy.
Everytime I would have that class, I would zip up my sweater before entering because I already knew I was going to feel uncomfortable. This still happens to me up to this day. Right now I am a Junior at Yerba Buena High School—three years have passed—and I still experience the same things at least once a week.
I soon came to realize that it’s not the clothes, it’s not how you behave, or who you hang out with; your still going to get this unwanted attention from men no matter what.
If you’re experiencing the same things that many of us experience on a daily basis, I want you to know that you’re not alone. If you feel like getting helped, you could contact Yerba Buena social worker, Jen Pastran, at [email protected]. You could also fill out a student support referral here and a social worker will contact you.
We dress for ourselves, not you!