Too often, curious young girls are told the same thing when questioning why they have to be more careful with their safety than their male classmates: The world will tell them “that’s just the way things are”. It’s a catch all answer that sums up the reason why women know unsafety so intimately that they can bond over the shared experience of walking home with their keys between their knuckles. When younger brothers are allowed to use public transportation before their older sisters because the world is safer for a young boy than any girl at all, it’s because “that’s just the way things are.” When women face harassment, discrimination, and generally can’t feel safe in our world, it is never a concern because “that’s how things have always been,” but what we should be asking is – is that how the world should be?
In today’s world, women have to be constantly aware of their surroundings and always ready to make a hasty exit if a situation turns unsafe. This constant state of vigilance not only impacts their daily lives but also perpetuates a cycle of fear and insecurity. Isabella Rinaldi, President of the Women’s Empowerment CCC here on campus, notes that this experience “leads to an internalization of the treatment, thus subjecting women to live in fear and underestimate themselves.”
A poll conducted about students at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory found that almost half of the female students don’t feel safe walking around alone after school. If these girls can’t even believe they are safe in broad daylight when the streets are bustling with people, then how are they expected to feel safe anywhere?
Gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination run rampant And yet are accepted as “just the way things are.” The fact that women are subject to all of these things frequently renews these feelings of unsafety and justifies women’s concern about simply walking around alone. Around 40% of these high school students carry a self-defense item such as pepper spray in order to feel safe walking around. The very fact that young girls feel the need to carry weapons with them to ensure their safety when walking home from school each day demonstrates how dangerous our world can be for women. But should these girls have to worry about their safety when they walk home? Or should they be allowed to focus on whatever happened that day knowing with some sense of certainty and confidence that they will be fine even if they are alone?
Ultimately, it’s 2023, and harassment can no longer be just “the way things are.” It’s not an excuse that can be made when the world changes around this continual issue. Girls should be able to walk home from high school without fearing for their safety even once. Just because girls have adapted and learned to be on alert and ready to protect themselves at all times doesn’t mean it is a permanent solution. Rinaldi argues that this “isn’t even a solution at all, rather an adapted/accustomed act of defense ingrained in the female experience.” Our society is in dire need of change, and that change begins with thinking of the way things should be.
