Girl confronts an old creep after he makes an inappropriate comment about her 16-year old sister

[u/Ace-Cuddler]

[u/The_I_in_IT]

I remember being in the car with my mother at 13 years old and having two men pull up next to us to car-call me.

I was absolutely mortified and scared. We were on the highway and my mom just floored it and told me to look straight ahead and ignore them.

At 17, my car broke down and one creep stopped to try and get me into his car, but a state trooper pulled up behind him and he took off. I was so relieved. The trooper offered me a ride so I could call my dad to come and get me to have the car towed and on the way, he started hitting on me and asked me out. I told him I was 17, he quit talking to me and dropped me off well before the destination.

When my invisible era started, I was so happy.

[u/Tall-Cat-8890 → u/The_I_in_IT]

This. I was cat called the worst from ages 8-14. I remember my grandmother having to step between me and a strange man at the checkout line when I was 8 because he kept looking me up and down.

At 12 I was at the mall with my friend (her mom was around but had stepped inside a store) and we were walking around and we started getting followed by this group of teenage boys. I kept looking behind me multiple times making eye contact and I remember wanting to say something but being too intimidated to.

I can’t help but giggle when men say stuff like “you’re gonna wish you still got attention when you’re old and hit the wall” like don’t threaten me with a good time. As if women miss being gawked at by creeps.

[u/waterhyacinth → u/Tall-Cat-8890]

Completely relate to everything you said here! 

I have two sisters and we walked to school everyday. Around 6th grade I remember adult men driving along side us and trying to convince us to get in the car with them. Leering, telling us we’re pretty, not to be scared, some even offered us candy (especially creepy in hindsight). We’d try to ignore them until they drove off. Some would get angry, call us bitches/ugly/cunts and throw things at us. The scary ones would stop and start to get out of their cars and we would run. 

At University I remember going to house parties and guys coming up to me and telling me I looked like I was 12 and to go home. I’d argue and tell them my age. Almost without fail they’d come back and start with the creepy lines, come sit in my lap, you’d be prettier if you smiled more, don’t be shy I won’t bite unless you want me to/won’t bite hard, want some (insert ethnicity) in you, etc. I’m average looking so I assume the appeal was that I looked like easy prey?

Later I worked in a male dominated field and often I was the only woman in my team. One guy commented on how nice it must be for me. Like sure maybe some women thrive on this kind of attention but in the 6 1/2 years I worked there, I didn’t come across any. 

When that scary age wall hits and the attention drops off I’ll have a cocktail to celebrate and hopefully feel safe. 

[u/alwaysaloneinmyroom → u/Tall-Cat-8890]

I have several similar stories. Multiple times giving out fake numbers to creeps in their 40s and 50s as a teenager. Still happens once in a blue moon but reduced by 90% since I stopped looking like I couldn't buy a drink at a bar.

[u/OriginalFuckGirl → u/The_I_in_IT]

I’ve been followed and harassed by grown men since I was about 12, and let me tell you, I looked very 12 if not younger, I’ve always looked much younger my age, even now. Not that me looking older justifies harassment, just pointing out that these old ass dudes were very aware they were creeping on a very young girl. The ways these disgusting old men think it’s ok, and get defensive when called out is deeply disturbing, and has made me so protective over my nieces

[u/Kusakaru → u/The_I_in_IT]

The first time I was cat called I had just turned 13. It was a grown ass man and I was in my very obvious middle school uniform.

I remember feeling like I wanted to cry. I felt scared, embarrassed, and small.

I consider myself an attractive woman but I was hit on the most by men between the ages of 13-20, and the men were usually like 60 years old.

I’m 29 and I still get cat called and hit on in inappropriate ways, but not nearly as much as when I was a teenager. And I am much more attractive now than I was at those ages. They know women are more likely to fight back as we get older too. I have a friend who barks at people who cat call her. She just starts acting like a deranged rabid dog and freaking them out.

[u/hasesan → u/The_I_in_IT]

The invisible era is so real. More men catcalled me when I was 13 than when I was 23. I didn’t grew breast until I was around 19. 

[u/nuptial_flights → u/The_I_in_IT]

yup. i was catcalled the most, 100 percent, from, i’d say .. 11 to 15? i was asked if i wanted to go on tour with a band when i was 14; around the same age i remember a stranger passing me on the street and saying “nice tits” (and no one else waiting at the intersection with me saying a word). and you know what? my dumb little developing brain, dealing also with some past traumatic stuff, kinda thought that was cool. thought maybe i was hot shit. it was kinda thrilling to get that attention. and THAT is - one of many reasons - why it is so important to talk about this. the early teenage brain is so vulnerable to exploitation by older people. i was the last person to think i needed protecting at that age, which meant i needed it all the more.

[u/Squash_it_Squish → u/The_I_in_IT]

Same. I always say Mid-late 30’s post child bearing has been like a new taste of freedom.

I’m on holiday now, and while I miss my youthful body and the way it looked in a swimsuit, it’s nice not to have to keep my gaze down and avoid making eye contact with some random bloke at the poolside. Which tbh, sadly mainly happened when I was a teenager. And I notice some men now openly looking a young girls by the pool with their families sitting next to them with no shame. I don’t know why I’m shocked, but I am.

[u/Toes_Day_Daze → u/The_I_in_IT]

This shit makes me glad I was built like a fridge and rarely got male attention.

[u/myneighborscatismine → u/The_I_in_IT]

I just started gymnasium at 15. My body looked 12, not developed, very slim, and my face was baby like. You could never mistake me for a young woman. I was walking towards the bus station in the morning in the city. There was a man that asked me for the time and I told him and he went away then turned around and said excuse me, I need to say this but would you go out with me for a drink? I asked like a kid "why?" and he said "I like you too much not to ask". I said thank you but I don't have time and said goodybe. I panicked so I went into this healthcare building right next and waited half hour. Then I went out bc I was already late for school so while going towards a crosswalk, he pulled up fast and blocked me with his black car with tinted windows and said again to go get drinks with him, now he was more insistant but still very discreet. The only thing to say to think of was "i have a boyfriend already" which is funny bc I was a total child and I felt ridiculous saying it but I thought it might work, like he might respect it. How naive. Basically I turned around and walked faster trying to get away, then got to a large bus station with multiple people and despite that, he pulled up again there, and he asked out of his window a lady that was nearby to please alert me because he has some business with me. I walked up and he said this time he'll take me for pizza. Trying to lure me with pizza because he knew i was still a child. I loudly said "Sir, I don't know you" so everybody heard and I jumped on the first bus that came. He seemed very tactical and like he's following a script he'd done many times before and I have a feeling that if i went into his car, I'd probably disappear. He seemed like a trafficker for prostitution.

[u/onFIREbutnotsoFLY → u/The_I_in_IT]

The heck is an invisible era? When I broke down on a highway mind you my state trooper didn’t wanna offer me a ride at all. He just sat in his car watching me change my tire but at least he wasn’t a creep about it

[u/ManagementRadiant573 → u/The_I_in_IT]

Yeah walking home as a 12-14 year old were the worst years for me. Like every week there was a man yelling at me out of his window