I'm not entirely sure what makes certain men believe it is okay to address me from their cars as I walk past because they like the way I look without any regard for how I may feel afterwards. The excuse is often that I should feel flattered I had someone embarrass me in public by shouting "Alright, love!" out of the car window and that it should boost my body confidence. It didn't.
What I felt was self-conscious at first, because I'd been rudely alerted to the fact someone was objectifying my body in a purely sexual way. And then I felt angry, a little upset even, that I didn't have any control over that. I was wearing shorts because it was hot and that's what I felt comfortable in but after that incident I wanted to hide my legs away unless some other man was to call at me from inside his car in front of my own mother and make me feel very embarrassed.
He wouldn't have said anything to me if he'd walked past, he may have looked but he wouldn't have made me feel uncomfortable about it. That's because in the safety of his own vehicle he feels he can shout across at a stranger if he fancies them without them turning round and telling him exactly where to stick his implications.
It wasn't out of politeness that he addressed me, or common courtesy, it was because he believed he had this right by fancying me to call at me. And what upset me was that I couldn't do anything about it, although it was a short moment of my life I couldn't tell him that he didn't have a chance in hell if he shouted out to random women like that.
I am now wishing I could go back and tell him exactly what I thought of him and why next time don't shout out to people you don't know in the vain hope that they'll want anything to do with you.
Just don't be involved with any kind of street harassment because it's really quite disrespectful. It's as simple as that.
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