Women. We stay strong in our fight for equality within a patriarchal society set up to take us down at every turn. Inherently and unforgivably placed in a lesser position, yet we don’t back down. Some will never know what we fight for, what we go through, or why we don’t back down, so the generations ahead will hopefully have it better.

Here is a small fraction of what we go through daily.

What women do when walking home alone

This list includes, but is not limited to:

  1. We constantly check our shoulders. 
  2. We let people know where we are and share our location at all times.
  3. We cross the street if someone is walking in front of or behind us. 
  4. We have some sort of defensive weapon on our body/in our hand/in reach. 
    • This could include a spare key in between our fingers. 
  5. We have 911 pre-dialed if someone gets too close. 
  6. We pretend to be on a phone call.
  7. We only take roads with street lights. 
  8. We never cut through alleyways. 
  9. We never cut through forests.
  10. We take off shoes that are hard to run in. 
  11. We try to avoid direct eye contact for too long. 
  12. We try not to acknowledge catcallers.

What women do when walking to their car alone

This list includes, but is not limited to:

  1. We constantly check our shoulders and surroundings.
  2. We let people know where we are and share our location at all times.
  3. We check underneath our car before entering.
  4. We check our back seats before driving off. 
  5. We have some sort of defensive weapon on our body/in our hand/in reach. 
    • This could include a spare key in between our fingers. 
  6. We unload the groceries quickly and check our surroundings as well go. 
  7. We try to park close to where we are going.
  8. We try not to park too close to other cars.
  9. We try not to draw too much attention to ourselves. 
  10. We try to dress as moderately as possible. 
  11. We try to avoid direct eye contact for too long. 

What women do at parties (alone or not alone)

This list includes, but is not limited to:

  1. We never put our cup down.
  2. We always have a hand over our cup. 
  3. We never receive drinks from anyone (this includes strangers and even sometimes friends).
  4. We let people know where we are and share our location at all times.
  5. We never say we are alone, even if we are. 
  6. We never go outside or to a room alone.
  7. We sometimes have to dress more moderately than we would want.
  8. We sometimes try to get friendly with a woman at the party who can look out for us. 
  9. We make sure to only leave with people we know/trust or in a safe vehicle.
  10. We try to look out for other women at the party.
  11. We try to keep our eyes out for the people that are too drunk, too handsy, too vocal, and tend to avoid them. 
  12. We try to keep most of our personal information private (sometimes we don’t reveal our real name). 
  13. We sometimes just say we have a partner/significant other (when we don’t) to avoid being hit on or harassed.

What women do when traveling alone

This list includes, but is not limited to:

  1. We let people know where we are and share our location at all times.
  2. We have some sort of defensive weapon on our body/in our hand/in reach. 
    • This could include a spare key in between our fingers.
  3. We never say we are traveling alone. 
  4. We try to have someone waiting for us when we arrive. 
  5. We try not to sit and eat alone. 
  6. We stay in public areas where there is a high accumulation of people. 
  7. We often stay sober. 
  8. We never reveal where we are traveling from, where we are traveling to, or where we are staying. 
  9. We never reveal any personal information (not even our real name).
  10. We try not to fall asleep anywhere. 
  11. We sometimes don’t wear headphones or listen to anything. 
  12. We try to schedule our arrivals during the daytime. 
  13. We try to be as polite as possible, even if it isn’t warranted. 
  14. We try not to look like tourists or like we aren’t from the area. 
  15. We try to dress as moderately as possible.

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