ladies. all the ladies.
June 27, 2007My friend Lexi posted a good blog about how women get shat on all of the time. It’s true. I want to talk about what happened to one of my best friends the other night.
She was dog-sitting for our friend at the corner of Sherman and Euclid Sts. NW. Her date dropped her off at 11 p.m. and went to go find parking. She since she was walking less than a block to our friend’s door, went ahead to let the dog out. Instead, five teenagers, two girls and three guys, attacked her. The girl punched her in the head and tried to rip her purse from her. She says that she’d have rather let them knock her teeth out than give up her iPod (part of the badass attitude I love about her). They kicked her face in a bunch of times. The whole time, she’s screaming “MICHAEL! MICHAEL!” (her friend’s name). Finally, he comes running and the kids scatter … and her entire chin is bruised, her forehead has swelled, and her elbow is completely banged up.
The next day, yesterday, I’m walking the dog with her and our male friend after a few drinks. We get around the corner onto Euclid and … one of the kids who attacked her is sitting RIGHT THERE. Right where it happened, on a stoop. Our male friend calls the police, we stand around the corner and wait for them to come. They arrive and walk her down to identify the victim, who they CUFF RIGHT THERE in front of the entire street and all of the people who have come out of their apartments and houses to see what’s happening. So, everyone saw her face. Great job.
They cart the dude and her off to the police station and now she can’t pupsit anymore and she’s scared and I. AM. PISSED. This happened because she’s a white-looking woman. Other WOMEN did this to her. How could you do that to someone who every day faces catcalls, discrimination and the unfortunate-but-still-true disadvantage that comes with having a vagina in this world? She’s not privileged, she works her ass off, she’s had, at points, a rough life, and she’s come out tough and amazing because of it. And you shit all over that, other women, because you’re angry at something that has nothing to do with her. I am pissed. When are women going to realize that we need each other?
i think the main problem is that it’s teenagers….a lot of them just don’t care, and it’s really sad. a lot of the london crime is teenagers, which somehow makes it twice as scary to me, as they don’t think about the repercussions and just do whatever the hell they want.
i also think people tend to think of race before gender. not always true, but an example: i was on a PACKED london bendy bus a few months ago, and a white guy was trying to bring a small bike onto the bus. when carrying it on, he knocked it against a black woman, who flipped a shit on the dude. a group of black teenage boys in the same space (unrelated to the woman), start yelling at him, too. white dude calls her a bitch under his breath, and the teenagers start screaming at him and holding up the bus. eventually they push him through the doors, onto the ground, and start kicking him (there were about 8 of them)…and then proceed to run off. he should not have called that woman a bitch, true, but they had absolutely no right to do what they did, and she was WAY out of line herself. they were caught, and everyone gave the woman the evil eye on the bus back.