Free to be me!

Lately I've been trying to get in shape, enjoy the outdoors and get out of the house by walking/running down a local street about three or four times a week. It's five miles round trip so it's a workout and I'm all gross and sweaty by the time I finish. I love it. On the good days the sky is so blue, the air is cool and there are butterflies flying around me and I feel like I'm in a Disney movie.

What I don't like is the underlying fear, as a woman, when I'm alone in public. I'm always looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is following me. And it just makes my beautiful day suck when some jackass ogles, honks or yells at me. I'm also tired of thinking that it's my fault, like my running pants are too tight or my boobs are too big, or that I've committed some sort of wrong by letting my guard down and enjoying my freedom and autonomy. It's not me! It's the responsibility of the men who feel the need to put a woman in her place and feel entitled to work out some pathological sexual fantasy on every woman they see.

I'm not talking to the men who appreciate a lovely woman like me in a respectful way, which I believe applies to most heterosexual men in society. I'm talking to the men Jessica Valenti, from Feministing.com addresses in her kick ass video:



I long to live in a world where straight men are free from the pressure to "be a man" by means of disrespecting women and can express their sexuality in a non-threatening way. I long to live in a world where I can listen to my iPod while taking a run and know that I will be safe.