If you’re not living life as a woman, it can be hard to understand what it’s like to walk around feeling not exactly secure, pretty much all of the time.
Women and girls have to be on their guard, watching their surroundings, picking out exit strategies, prepared to lie or laugh and jokes that aren’t funny or actually run for their lives if something goes south.
Actress Shay Greyson, who lives in London, does a great job illustrating what it’s like on a day-to-day when she describes and encounter with a man in the park who asked to take a picture of her dog.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMPxPFvBCCG/?utm_source=ig_embed
It was daytime and there were people around, so she figured there was no harm in saying yes.
Until…
“My dog was on a leash, it was daytime, and there were a lot of people around.
With that in mind, I figured he had no malicious intentions, so I said yes.
As he was doing it, I noticed that his hand was holding her collar.
That’s when I realized he was actually taking a picture of my address on the dog tag, not my dog.”
I think many of us would have gone into flight mode at that point, but Shay didn’t – she went after him and stood up for herself instead, insisting that he delete the photos and then verifying that he did.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3ZgTehL0t/?utm_source=ig_embed
Then, she insisted that he delete them from his “recently deleted” folder.
“My gut told me to keep insisting, so I told him that I would not stop or leave until he showed it to me.
He then agreed to show me the album, and as I suspected, the three pictures were still there.
I then made him permanently delete them all.”
She shared her story on TikTok, where other women chimed in with their own stories and how they believe their own quick thinking perhaps saved their lives.
@heysheybae What if I didn’t realize what he was doing? #fyp #safetyprotocol #womensafety #foryou #storytime #feminism #foryoupage
If you’re not a woman and are wanting to better understand what it’s like to live as one – and why we often have escape strategies and don’t want to be friendly – there are plenty more posts on TikTok like Shay’s.
Women are out there trying to make you understand, so take advantage!
