Pokemon Go..And Get Street Harassed

Greetings Friends. WWFBG here to talk to you about my very favorite subject in the whole wide world: Street Harassment! Excited? You bet I am. Let me tell you about the first time I got ever street harassed. I was twelve years old.  I had been hanging out with my cousins in their apartment playing video-games and reading manga. You know, the usual nerdy shit. Anyway,  my mother had come to pick me up to go home. "It's time to leave, daughter of mine. Your sister has Girl Scouts in the morning". I immediately proceeded outside to get to the car. I believed my mother was right behind me so I continued onwards. What I didn't realize was that it had become very dark. On the other side of where my mother's car was parked, I noticed three large looming figures coming towards me. After adjusting my glasses, I realized it was a group of older teenage boys about 15 feet in front of me. I felt the hairs on my back stick up immediately. "Here Kitty-Kitty. Bark! Bark! Woof Woof".  Were these assholes seriously barking at me? My eyes darted to and fro praying they were trying to get someone else's attention. Alas, no one else was around. And now, they were coming closer to me. I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that in this moment I was not safe and for some reason my feet wouldn't move to run. Just then, my mother appeared at my side while on her cell phone "Okay, Talk to you soon.  Bye!".  The door opened to our red minivan and I jumped inside. I turned to look in the direction of where those boys were coming from to see that they had magically disappeared.  They say that a girl's menarche marks her entrance into womanhood,  but I disagree. I believe it is the first time, you have to deal with  a snide comment about your appearance, a lecherous leer or someone calling out to you to tell you what they would like to do to you while walking down the street. Twelve years old! I could barely fit into the size AA training bra that I finally convinced my mother to let me wear. I was a little girl, not at all ready to deal with the libidos of older boys and grown ass men. Fast forward to September of 2012 in San Francisco California. I was on my way to meet my colleagues for dancing and drinking at a queer friendly gathering called "Mango". I rode the 14 Muni Bus from Downtown to the Outer Mission. It is a long but always entertaining ride. Anyway, I get let out about 2-3 blocks from the club. I am walking down the sidewalk when I see what looks to be an old grandfather and a small boy (He couldn't be more than five years old) . I didn't  have my sunglasses or my headphones because I want to be fully aware of my surroundings. In those days, I didn't have a smartphone with oh so handy GPS.  Boy, did I regret that. I walked past the grandfather who looked me right in the eyes, licks his lips and made smacking sounds at me. He then began to whistle at me like I am some house pet who needs coaxing to come back home. I am growing hot with anger but I remain silent and begin to walk quickly. As I past them, I turn my head only to see that same small boy whistle at me and make smacking sounds at me. I am almost to the club but then I decide to stop around the corner. My body is shaking and my glasses are fogging up with the tears that have welled up in my eyes. I am so livid and frightened, I feel like I am on the verge of a panic attack. What upset and scared me the most was the horrifying sight of a little boy assimilating rape culture and machismo right before my very eyes. To that little boy, if his grandfather called out nasty things to women and girls on the street, that was perfectly okay. In fact, I am sure he thought it was a game. I bet the next time a woman walked by their post on the sidewalk in front of the bodega  and the little boy wolf whistled, that his grandfather gave him a high-five and ruffled his hair. Rape Culture, Misogyny and Sexism do not just appear in the minds of males, they are learned behaviors. I like to joke that I am an equal opportunity target for street harassment. I have been cat-called, wolf whistled, grabbed at, and "fuck you then, bitch (ed)" by every ethnicity of man and literally everywhere I have ever lived.  And by the way, when you are a woman of color, you not only get to be harassed for your physical appearance but also objectified for your skin color "Hey chocolate bunny, you look delicious.  Can I have a bite?. Or, Mmm. Hey spicy Mami! Bring that caramel ass over here!" Once again, let me set the record straight. Street harassment is not a behavior that is solely practiced by "urban ethnic men". Therefore,  I am calling out all men. Including the men who do nothing when their fellow men are assholes and creeps to females who made the simple mistake of venturing out in public. I am calling out all men who tell me "Well, I do not parrot that shitty behavior and neither do my friends. What can I do? Why should we talk when we are not the ones who do it?" Well fellas, you should be talking about it with your buddies. It doesn't matter if none of you are participating in that behavior, there is bound to be one of you who knows some other man that does. So yes, you do need to talk about it. And you need to talk about it now. Your female friends, your partners, your-co-workers, your own fucking mother are at risk for being scared shitless from the very first second a man tells them to smile. Street harassment like rape is not about sexual desire, compliments or flirting. IT IS AN ASSERTION OF POWER! That is all it is. Pokemon Go is a bad-ass game for encouraging people of all shapes and sizes to go forth and catch em all! It is promoting social interaction and improving mental health (especially as it relates to social anxiety). However as a woman who plays PokemonGo, I have the simultaneous task of staying hyper vigilant to catch that CP 1350 Blastoise who suddenly popped up while trying to avoid catching the eye of those creeps who hang out on the corner of 18th & University while also  trying to pretend I didn't hear "NICE LEGS, SUCK MY DICK" OR "HEY BEAUTIFUL, SMILE FOR ME".  Bruh, I am just trying to hatch this 10 kilometer egg. I swear to god it is going to be a high level Lapras. Bitches love Lapras.