What.
"You need to learn this right now, its how to tell someone to leave you alone! MEMORIZE IT."
So begrudgingly, I memorized it right there in the airport.
Gawd mom, I know how to handle myself - I am a strong, independent woman who takes no crap from nobody....
Being a woman in France is a very interesting blend of good old fashioned misogyny and modern day feminism. Here, you can pretty much wear anything you want: painted lips at 2pm, fishnets at noon, and a muumuu for dinner. No one will judge you! You will be praised by men and women alike for dressing up, dressing differently and walking with confidence and style. But no matter what you're wearing, who you're with, what time of day or what part of the city, you will be harassed. Every time I walk out of my apartment I know that I will be hit on, whistled at, or approached. I'm not being cocky. This is just the reality that all the girls in the study-abroad program and I have come to accept.
During the first few weeks of being here, my friends and I went out on the town and the cat-calls came and went throughout the night. By the time we were all walking home, I was fed-up. I hadn't yet learned the skill of completely ignoring it all and I was piised. and a little intoxicated. So when two young French men started approaching us, I was not having it.
"Hallo? Hallooo Ladiesss! You speak inglish? Are you Amaricane?"
"AU REVOIR" I replied, clearly doing an awesome job of telling them to leave us alone.
They did not appreciate this.
"Ohhhh HALLLOO."
"MARCHER! MARCHER!" I was attempting to tell them to walk away...no success.
"You make no sence! I am walking here, see?"
Then I proceeded to flick them off with both hands, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? HUH?!"
By this time, one of the boys got the picture and tried to pull his friend away.
The other guy continued to yell at us and started speaking rapidly in French, to which I replied with a string of American swear words. Dogs started barking, lights were turned on in the apartments above us, it was not good. Finally my friends got me to shut up and we all turned down an alley to get away from them.
It wasn't my finest moment.
Then just last week, my room mates and I were doing our laundry when we were joined by two young guys who had just finished rolling and smoking a joint outside. They hopped up onto the machines and began to ask lots of questions. We told them we were Canadian students and then tried to ignore them the best we could.
Finally, when they started getting really annoying, I remembered my phrase.
"Laisse-moi tranquille, s'il vous plaît"
It was like a magic spell had been cast! One of the guys instantly hopped down off the washing machine and told his friend that they should get going. The second boy couldn't leave without a fight so he said some more stupid jokes and then his friend apologized for them both and then they left!
Then I had one of those moments where I silently acknowledge that my mother was, in fact, right.
As much as I like being a girl, I have to say, I enjoy it far more in The States where a man can get verbally assaulted by a bad-ass bitch if they decide to cross the line when speaking to a woman.
Here, the women are pros at just walking silently away from a man's words. I guess its the right thing to do, to not stoop to their level and simply walk away - but it just makes me feel weak.
Ah well, I guess for the next 4 months, I can learn to suffer in silence.
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