If you watched the first season of Aziz Ansari’s Master of None you’ll remember the iconic scene that compared the male experience of walking home from a bar, to what women typically go through.
Aziz and his male friend leave the bar and say goodnight to their female friend. They walk one way, she walks the other. On their walk, Aziz and his pal, casually stroll, crack jokes and cut through the park because it’s quicker.
Our female character, meanwhile, tries to stay on well-lit sidewalks and dials “9-1” on her phone, just in case. Men yell out at her from dark corners, and one actually follows her home.
Sadly, Ansari was merely highlighting what is an every day reality for women. When walking home, jogging through a park, or even doing our grocery shopping, we can become a target for abusive, aggressive men, who think it's OK to harass and intimidate us.
Top Comments
Oh gosh, I've been followed home a few times. The scariest was, funnily enough, in the middle of the day by a man who sat behind me on the bus. He got off at my stop but then followed me the entire walk home...even as I crossed the road several times nonsensically to see if he was indeed following me.
I ended up taking a detour and walked into a shop, where I called my housemate to come and get me. When I walked back out to get in the car, the man was still standing there, watching me. Hideous.
These sorts of stories are appalling. Instead of going home in these scenarios, shouldn't the recommended advice be to go to a police station? We shouldn't have to, but it seems like a sensible option to not allow someone following you knowledge of where you live and to see whether or not cops can give you a ride home in safety if you've been followed like this.