Many people have this idea of college campuses as loud and noisy places where there is constant energy. While this can be true of some campuses, Drake’s is pretty quiet.
Sure, there can be excitement, but truthfully, the most you’ll hear on a consistent basis is the occasional loud greeting from one friend to another or the sound of a skateboard heading your way. These are pretty typical of a college campus and, in my opinion, are very welcome sounds.
However, disgusting, degrading comments shouted at you by strangers are not welcome.
Catcalling on college campuses is a known problem, but many don’t realize it until it happens to them. Drake being a quiet campus just makes these types of comments louder.
While the inner part of campus, at least from my experience, is untouched by this kind of behavior, the edge of campus is the problem. I have typically experienced this kind of behavior from those driving by the edge of campus, and the worst part is that there is nothing that I can do to make it stop.
One incident that sits in my mind comes from the most recent parents weekend. As my dad and I crossed the street, a man in a rusty old pickup truck approached and slowed down until he was right across from me and yelled out his window.
He screamed, “Man, I’d love to get you in my backseat, sweetheart,” before making a grunting sound and speeding off.
I kept walking, got into the car and went to dinner with my dad, just trying to forget about the whole thing. However, once my dad dropped me off and I went to settle in for bed, this nagging thought kept digging at me as I tossed and turned: Why would someone say that?
It’s a valid question that many people ask when they are catcalled. I couldn’t wrap my head around why a complete stranger would see someone minding their own business and just yell such vile and disgusting things at them. After that, I started to take notice of when it would happen to people around me. I’ve seen girls get yelled at from cars, from across the street and even from the same sidewalk they’re on.
Catcalling is one of the most disgusting interactions a person can have in such a short amount of time. I never really thought about it till that one moment in September, and now I’m hyperaware of passing vehicles and people.
I cringe when someone I don’t know walks by me, thinking that any second, some cruel taunt or disgusting proposition will be thrown at me. That paranoia digs even deeper when the person harassing you is on the same sidewalk as you and you wonder if you were always walking the same direction or if they were following you.
The fact that I have felt unsafe on campus solely due to strangers and their comments is atrocious. I have been catcalled on campus more often since then, and I feel like the more it happens, the more I want to hide inside my dorm until I feel safe to go out again.
When it happened the first time, I was so shocked, and then I was disgusted. After I thought I had gotten past it, a fellow student yelled some comment about my body from their dorm. Then it happened again and again, and now I am constantly worried that any guy that passes me on campus is going to say something like that. The thing is, it’s so normal to have to frequently feel uncomfortable or anxious, even in a supposedly safe place.
The good thing is that I know I’m not alone. I know there are other people on campus who have had the same experience, and I hope they read this and know they aren’t alone either and it’s completely valid for them to feel scared and uncomfortable. It’s okay to not understand why it happened or why it continues to happen.
It’s okay to not understand why people do that because it doesn’t make sense to us. How can a total stranger do this to another stranger? That’s something we don’t understand, which makes the encounter even more horrifying. But the catcallers understand why they do it, right? We don’t know, which, to me anyways, makes it worse. We don’t know what they’re thinking or why they do this, they just do.
