Red Crop and Denim Jacket.

Denim Jacket - Flea Market

Shirt - Vintage

Crop Top - Misguided

Jeans - H&M

Converse - eBay

I don't want to start this post by saying sorry for being absent, so I'll try not to. Still, I am rather annoyed as I had so many posts planned as was really excited to really get into it. Then life just threw a pile of poo at me and told me deal with it whilst running away with a smirk on it's face. All I want to do is stick my middle finger up at life and say "Screw you life! Screw you". Thanks to life, it's been a pretty hectic and stressful time for me at the moment, which is not helped by me being abroad. I am coping as best I can, simultaneously making sure I get the most out of my Erasmus year. 

Speaking of which, I did spend a long weekend in Prague which I am planning on doing a separate post about cos it was ah-ma-zing. Totally exhausting but worth it. I also deserve a slap on the wrist because I have been buying things... again. It suddenly dawned on me today that there is no way I am going to be able to take everything back with me in two suitcases. Looks like I will be taking multiple trips to the post office to send stuff home.  

On a fashion-y note. This has been my uniform lately because I am lazy and like to be comfy. These photos are also really old. I've had my hair cut since but we'll get all into that in a later post. Right now, lets focus on this beautiful denim jacket. If you're a keen reader of mine then you will have seen this stunning bit of denim in my haul video and will know that I stole it from a man at the flea market. Well, I didn't actually steal it - that's illegal and immoral. However, at only 2 euros I really might as well have. It is the perfect dark wash and so goes great with both my black and light wash jeans making my denim on denim situations perfect. No one wants a repeat of Britney and Justin.

Let me take a moment to thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. Never did I expect to get such a response. It was comforting and inspiring to hear about your own stories regarding catcalling and to feel that sense of feminine power. I will definitely be writing more topical posts in the future as I find they're so interesting to write. Be sure to let me know if there is anything that you would like to see discussed and leave me any links to your blogs or posts that you would like me to have a read of. I always love reading blogs.

#1 Sunday Segment: Catcalling and Creepy Men.

Allow me to introduce you to a new weekly feature that I am adding to this blog entitled Sunday Segment - not the most imaginative of names, I know, but it's all I've got so far. If you have any other suggests then send them my way. This feature is going to be home to a multitude of things that I would like to share and discuss be it reviews, poetry, silly cat videos... this will be the space for it. 

Today I was inspired by recent posts written by Katie (Buddle and Squeak) and Annika (The Pineneedle Collective) on their blogs tackling the issue of cat calling and creepy men. Reading about their experiences angered me to know that such lowly derogatory behaviour is still prevalent in today's world. It also made me reflect on my personal experiences since starting my year abroad.   

When I arrived here in Montpellier at the beginning of September it was hot, like really hot. My days on English beaches paled in comparison to the intensity of the French sun. Naturally shorts and T-shirt combos were a must. I found, however, that along with baring more skin came bearing the brunt of more unwanted male attention. I brushed the ogling aside and just took it as part of living in a big city and something that I would have to learn to ignore. 

There are so many things wrong with the statement I just made, and I shall get back to that in just a moment. 

Source

One of the first instances of sexual harassment I experienced took place merely weeks after my initial arrival. It was a week-day, early evening, with the sun still shining in the busiest area of Montpellier: Place de la Comedie. Walking briskly to meet my friends I became aware of a presence to my left which, glancing at, I saw was a 30-something man smiling at me like I was his next meal. Deciding to ignore him I moved my legs as fast as they'd carry me; being 5ft 2ins it wasn't very fast at all. 

Said man continued to walk next to me and said hello to me in French to which I replied, with the worst French accent I could muster "Pardon, je ne parle pas le francais". I thought that would be it. I thought he would leave me alone. Much to my dismay he then began talking to me in English telling me how sexy my arse was and how much he wanted to fuck me (I kid you not). I still tried to brush it aside telling him I already had a boyfriend and attempted to get away from him. He still persisted however, gesturing with his hands how big his dick was and how great it was going to be to fuck me. Spotting my friends not far off I still tried to laugh it off and bid him goodbye. It wasn't until I actually greeted my very confused friends that he went away. Even then I only think he left because one of them was male. 

It absolutely sickens me when I think about it and in many ways I still cannot believe it actually happened. What's worse is a couple days later he passed me in the street, once again throwing an onslaught of cat calls and insults my way.

Perfectly sums up my feelings (source)

And yet my only reaction was to do nothing. I tried to laugh it off. Brush it aside. Not make a big deal out of it. And worst of all I accepted it. I was shocked yet it wasn't anything out of the ordinary as I had learnt to deal with it. This is where I rectify my previous statement. This behavior should not be ordinary and should not have to be learnt to deal with. This man in particular, though unfortunately among many others, felt it was his right to treat me the way he did. He saw something he desired and saw no problem with aggressively trying to obtain it. It was obvious he had no filter to determine what was inappropriate behaviour and if anything actually got a kick out of making me feel uncomfortable. 

It's creeps like this that spoil men and masculinity. They need to undergo a serious attitude change needed for the necessary leap towards equality.  To quote Crystal Eastman hailing from the 1920s "we must institute a revolution in the early training and education of both boys and girls". In other words, it is the attitudes of the younger generations that need to be fed with ideas of feminism in order to birth a world of equality. What is alarming is that Crystal knew this just under a 100 years ago and not much has really changed. Us feminists are still wading through custard on the path towards equality, and we're slowly getting there. However, it is the attitudes and mind sets of people that we really need to change. Once we do we can come off the custard path, but only then.