Make it stop

For women, putting on headphones and literally drowning out sound is the only way to not experience catcalling. Though there are many “tips and tricks”, there is nothing a woman can change to make the harassment stop. Really, I've tried. Don’t make eye contact, but don’t make it seem like I'm avoiding it on purpose. Don’t look too happy, don’t look too sad. Powerwalk. Look angry. Not too angry. Bark? Cover up every inch of my body when walking outside, though it doesn’t really help. Don’t respond. Ignore. Hope they don’t follow you. It really doesn’t matter when your presence alone is enough.

There is nothing that I can do to make it stop indefinitely unless I put my headphones on and choose not to hear anything at all. How could I even control something that I’m not doing? How can any woman? Headphones become the signifier of a problem that I cannot solve but am expected to deal with anyway. Headphones are the object many women must put on, an action they must take, even though it’s unfair. They save me and many others' anger and exhaustion, but also represent yet another “trick” I must do that in the end will not stop anything.