The reasons why I didn't want to write this post were the EXACT reasons why I needed to write this post. If you are on social media, you might see a lot of friends posting "Me Too". I'm pretty sure everyone knows by now what it means (but for those not on social media, here is the explanation): "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'me too' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."
I hadn't planned on writing about this topic until I saw a post online about a friend being shamed for saying it: She was just wanting attention. If she didn't share the details of what happened, then that meant she was lying. Why hasn't she said anything earlier? I bet she's just posting it because all her friends are saying it and nothing even happened to her. Comments and questions like these are the reasons why more women DON'T speak up. So, to all my fellow brave friends who have posted it, I want you to know- Me too.
To the women who have had men tell you that they are "owed" something because they bought you a drink at a bar- Me too.
To the women who have been called ugly names after politely refusing a free drink at a bar- Me too.
To the women who have found an unwanted hand on their thigh- Me too.
To the women who have been told crude comments about their looks- Me too.
To the women who have been accused of leading a man on (only meaning you were polite and talked to them) and then called horrible names when you denied any advances- Me too.
To the women who have been told, "relax, it was just a joke"- Me too.
To the women who have been told that you aren't worth it- Me too.
To the women who have received unsolicited photos of body parts via text or social media- Me too.
To the women who have asked someone to stop and were ignored- Me too.
To the women who are told if you just dressed sexier, you could get a man- Me too.
To the women who are told that the way you dress just means you are asking for something like that to happen to you- Me too.
To the women who are asked "Well, how much did you drink? How do yo know that you didn't agree to it?"- Me too.
Just because someone admits they have been assaulted or harassed doesn't mean that they owe you any details or an explanation. Just know- it happens. It happens more than you think. It happens to more friends and family members than you think. It's not something we want to talk about. If we want to share details, we will. Don't try and fix us- we aren't necessarily broken. If you want to fix anything, find a way to fix how women are treated so it doesn't happen to someone else.
As always, I love you all.
XOXO.
