Is sexual harassment the only form of misogyny? Surprisingly, most of the world’s population, both male and female, seem to think so. What people fail to understand is that sexism is something faced by women (any person who identifies as female) almost every, single, day. It could be at school or office, public transport facilities or even in supermarkets. It could originate from actions as small as the measuring of the distance between the hem of a girl’s skirt and her knee in some American schools, or more serious, like the rarely talked about Pink Tax or abortion laws. Patriarchy is so deeply entrenched in our society, that women believe that this is all they deserve and don’t talk about any of these instances.

When it comes to sexual harassment, the magnitude of the issue is often forgotten. Every woman has faced at least a single instance of sexual harassment, ranging from lecherous glances to much more serious crimes. And the perpetrators, unsurprisingly, are usually men.

There was a survey conducted in 2018, where women between the ages of 15 to 50 were asked about what they would do if, for a single day, there were no men on the planet. Shockingly, most wanted to do what sounds like a highly ordinary thing – they wanted to go out freely at night, alone.

Let us dwell on this for a moment. Shouldn’t this mean that most women do not feel wholly safe going out at night because of men? Now, this sounds remotely disturbing to me. What many fail to realize is that all of this annoys women so, so much. Why should women be less deserving of a safe world where they do not have to be hyper-aware of their every movement?
Now, imagine if a man was subjected to even a millionth of what women have lived through for centuries. Imagine the outrage that would ensue. Now try and understand why the entire system is so unfair and irritating, WHY IT SHOULD BE CHANGED!

-Anagha Jyothish