International Women's Day 2017.

By no means do I consider myself a political person - but I do hold very true to the ideas of feminism. I feel like in the past couple years, these ideals have been bolstered by the strong women, friends, and leaders I have been so lucky to spend time with - and because I feel like I've found myself in lots of situations where my femininity (aka - having a vagina) has made me feel unsafe or unappreciated.


I am making a stand this International Women's Day because...

...I will never forget the first time I was harassed by a man. I was standing at a stop light on my way to the mall in the 9th grade. A man stopped at the light, stared my friend and me straight in the eyes, and placed his disgusting tongue between his two fingers.

...I had no idea [until 10 years after] that being sexual assaulted was not my fault.

...when placed in a group project my senior year of college with a group of all men, our professor asked us all to introduce ourselves by saying our name and at least one thing we feel we bring to the table for the group project. The men went first, saying their names and strengths like public speaking, graphic design, presentation generation, etc until it was my turn. I started to say "My name is Shannon and I am good at organizing workflow" but instead it was interrupted with "My name is Shannon" "--and I'm really good at making sandwiches" by my brand new male teammate whom I had absolutely no previous interactions or rapport. 

...when I was walking down the street alone this past summer, a group of six teenage men told me first that I was cute and then that I "have a nice ass". When I told them that they were being disrespectful and that the sheer number of them compared to me was threatening, instead of apologizing, they told me that I "should have just smiled" and that I'm "not cute anymore."

...in the the 9 block walk to drop off my election ballot this past year, I was whistled at 3 times and screamed at about my aforementioned "nice ass" twice from cars and buildings I walked past. 

...I will never forget the first time I was harassed by a man after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America. I was standing at a bus stop alone after work and a man whistled and yelled "Ooh girl, I have something to put between those legs" from only a sidewalk distance away. I remember feeling more scared than I had every previously been because of his proximity, the darkness, and the validation he may feel from the most powerful man in the world. 

I don't feel like my participation in this day is necessarily political or stubborn or irrational. I don't feel like people who identify as feminist are necessarily radical. I think my participation is just an acknowledgement that I am not the only woman with this story or a story very much like this one. Strong, powerful, intelligent, beautiful, driven women everywhere face this kind of dehumanization on more occasions than any one person could imagine.

If you (man, woman, transperson, frog, amoeba, alien, etc) don't think these things happen regularly, look to your right and left and ask the first woman you see to tell you of a time she's been harassed and be prepared to become a bit of a feminist yourself.




And with that, I am off to do the best thing I could think of today: Volunteering at Mi Casa Resource Center at North High School. Not only is Mi Casa "dedicated to advancing the economic success of Latino and working families in the Denver Metro area" - but it was founded by eight badass women/mothers/trailblazers. It's an honor to be a part of their legacy.

Happy International Women's Day.