The More I Quarantine, the Less I Experience Street Harassment
I can’t get catcalled if I don’t leave the house
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Admittedly, I don’t like humans that much. While the species has shown great examples of kindness, love, and capability, they’ve also shown breathtaking forms of the complete antithesis. Too cowardly to invest energy to decipher which human has which trait, I’ve chosen a life of simplicity and solitude. I have a small tribe that waters me whenever my soil needs it, but for the most part, I keep quiet and keep my distance.
This existence runs parallel with the conditions Covid-19 has placed us all in. To steer clear of the virus that has crippled the U.S. economy and taken the lives of thousands, keeping quiet and keeping my distance has proven to be an effective safety measure. Staying indoors isn’t burdensome for me. It’s a blessing, and, thus, limiting my interactions with humans is, again, a mantra I adopted long before Dr. Anthony Fauci became a household name.
I am painfully aware, however, of the privilege that rocks underneath my words. While I quarantine with Mommy and occasionally fight over the one bathroom in our cozy two-bedroom apartment, there are women who are enduring domestic violence at the hands of the partner they’re under quarantine with. While I comfortably work from home and occasionally take a walk around my block, I’m aware my experience isn’t the same for everyone.
Still, it’s during this time that I’ve realized one of the greatest benefits of my quarantine is the lack of harassment I would normally experience from men. By limiting my outside activities to essential errands, this societal side effects of Covid-19 have given me a new level of safety.
Street harassment happens simply because I am a woman and this society has taught most men that women are punching bags for their unchecked egos.
If things were different, walking from the train to my office or from my office to the local pizza stand for lunch, I would be bombarded with unwanted advances from a myriad of men.
There’s the 6-foot-4 high school junior trying to look cool in front of his paisanos. His physical…
