You know why I don’t talk to you? Do you know why I try to avoid you?
It’s because you scare me. It’s because I’ve seen your kind as savages and sadists. You don’t believe me? Let me share with you a few of the episodes I’ve witnessed then:[break]
Episode I
A bike with two men zoomed past. One was driving the bike and the other reaching out to grab women on their body parts. I’ll let you figure out which parts exactly on your own for it shouldn’t be too hard to guess.
The bike darted from one woman to another, stopping only for a fraction of a second next to the women it passed, and reached out to harass women publicly. Mind you, there were two men on the bike and they were terrorizing all the women on the street. In retort, the only thing the women could do was curse those sociopaths for they would be targeting another woman on the street by the time the first one had enough time to process what hit her.
Episode II
A few years after this incident, I witnessed another such event – quite as scary, if not scarier. The street was empty and pretty quiet. A woman on a scooter was driving behind us and from the other direction a man was approaching on his Pulsar Bike. I noticed the man was trying to intimidate the woman as he was driving. But the next thing I noticed, the man actually changed his direction and ended up following the woman on the scooter. God knows what happened after that, but from where I was, it didn’t look like a situation any girl would want to be in. Worse yet, I couldn’t do anything about it because I had no way to identify them and call for help.
Interlude
If I had to list down such memories, then I know I would run out of paper. Yes, there are that many horrific memories. Believe it or not, every girl will inevitably have been or will be a victim of such bizarre incidents, or witnessed them in her life, especially in places like Kathmandu. And I’m not even talking about rape, or domestic violence or violence in the public sphere. I’m only talking about the seemingly innocent catcalls and remarks laden with sexual connotations.
Yes, your mother, your wife, your daughter, your sister, your girlfriend, your friend who happens to be a girl – all of them will be able to elucidate my points here. Ask them, I’m sure they have their share of sickening stories they can tell you about.
I admit you may not be the guy that I’m describing here. But on a scale of one to barbarian, I’m pretty sure you may score around a 5 for when a girl donning a skirt walks past, and you may have the urge to stare at her a moment longer than you would have had you seen a girl clad in kurtha. I’m not judging you as a person, but merely as your kind. Studies tell me that your kind function purely on the basis on hormones, and who knows what crazy things hormones can make one do!
Let’s face it. Ever so often we hear stomach-churning news that are lambasted at us. Everyday, women have to endure humiliation, abuse, terror all because men are by nature animal-like. And let me tell you, one woman who has had to face sexual assault is one too many.
I hope you can take away from this how easy it is to make even the most strong-willed woman feel vulnerable and insecure when you get down to being barbaric. I hope you’ll realize that sitting amidst your gang of guys, scrutinizing and passing wildly inappropriate remarks about every girl who walks past, you’ll only make me repulsed by you.
Conclusion
Instead, if you show me a bit of your chivalrous side, put me at ease by not gawking at me, I may appreciate you more. And then perhaps I may talk to you; I may not avoid you anymore.
The writer is a student of Political Science at Thammasat University who enjoys exploring life and all that it has to offer.
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