Intervention 2 (Naomi Andujar)

 

                Throughout this course I've been very inspired to challenge myself and find my inner activist. This is a topic that is very important to me. Growing up in a densely populated neighborhood I've been accustomed to older men cat calling my peers and I. As sad as it sounds I had learned to grow thicker skin and just ignore the unwanted comments. However, while creating this artwork I realized that this is not something that we should just ignore. I've been catcalled since I was at least thirteen years old. Once I was old enough to realize what was going on I started to question myself. Was I dressing inappropriately? Was I attracting too much attention to myself by wearing shorts in 100 degree weather? These thoughts would consume me and I soon started covering up more and more no matter how hot it was to avoid these inappropriate catcalls. Once I realized that men wear catcalling me even if I were to wear a huge winter coat covering my whole body I noticed that the people we should be addressing are the catcallers not ourselves. Everyone I know has had similar experiences as well.  As a community we have to come together and stop these acts that we are so used to. This is not only something that happens to girls, men are also targeted and made uncomfortable by women. The picture above is an art piece made of chalk that I drew in a parking lot right next to a bar in my hometown. This is and always has been a hotspot for catcallers because once they have alcohol in their system they lose all sense of respect towards anyone. The drawing shows a picture of a cat with the words "Catcalling is harassment." I never thought that three words could mean so much to me. When it comes to situations I always have tried to brush off my anger belittle the situation by thinking "They're just being annoying." Catcalling is not just annoying. Catcalling is not a compliment. Most of all, catcalling is not something that we should normalize. While these catcallers think they are boosting our confidence they are actually taking it away from us. Catcalls make me unsafe and I shouldn't feel like that in a place where I consider home. I have learned to take extra precautions like carrying a whistle and pepper spray "just in case", but I truly hope that we can eventually live in a world where people can respect one another whether they know them or not.