Me, too.

I was standing alone on the sidewalk by the administration building the spring of my freshman year, dressed in a sweater and jeans. A group of boys drove toward me in a red car, but I didn’t notice them initially. They were just another group of students going home after a long school day.

As the car came closer, I heard one boy shout out, asking for my phone number. I turned toward them. Another said something to me about my appearance, and then the other four boys joined in, hooting and hollering. I instinctively looked down at my clothing and felt very self conscious, though nothing, save my hands and face, was exposed.

While the incident lasted only a few seconds, my self-worth plummeted. I felt like an object — and that what I was feeling was my fault.

That was anything but an isolated incident.

I have been in situations in which I simply walk down the street, cross the short distance from dance studio to my car or wander around with a group of friends, and am singled out by boys or men because of my appearance. But I just keep walking, because I know that if I said anything back, it would only make the situation worse.

It is a societal norm that women have to dress a certain way, avoid certain places at night, always keep an eye on our drinks, not “give him the wrong idea” and take an extra 30 seconds to think before we speak.

Nothing we do will ever entirely protect us from sexual harassment.

After the car catcall situation happened, I reached out to my best female friend and my mom, whose primary concerns were my well-being and physical state. They never asked what I was wearing —  they were too focused on the boys’ behavior, and how it affected me.

Later, I tried talking to boys in my grade about what I had experienced. They asked me, “What were you wearing? Why were you alone?” Some had even participating in similar catcalling, yet they denied that it was a form of sexual harassment.

Anytime I talk to male friends about sexism or harassment, they don’t get it. They don’t understand what I went through, or what women go through everyday. After I talked to them, I felt even worse than I did standing on the sidewalk that day. I thought to myself, “This is why women don’t come forward and talk about this.”