Being Objectified

I got honked at by a truck driver this morning walking the block from where I have to park this week (they're repaving our parking lot) to my office. I suppose there's the chance that this particular truck driver was not honking at me, but the honk was one of those "toot-toot" kind, not one of the "hey, get out of my way!" kind. So for my thoughts purposes today, I am going to assume I was being honked at.

I know that there are so many women around the world who are objectified and discriminated against much more than me, but you know, bottom line, being oogled at incenses me whether is is happening to me or to another woman.

I mean, let's be real here. Does that truck driver think by honking at me I'm going to drop everything, race after his truck, hop in the cab with him, and ride off into the sunset? Wow, my heart swoons over being honked at.

Or as another example, I was driving on the highway the other day and this SUV with what I assume were college students pulls up beside me and the guy in the passenger seat blows me a kiss! I mean, get real! (Granted, I was wearing my huge pink sunglasses that are pretty hot, but I certainly don't wear them to get kisses from strange men). What did he expect me to do? Write my number on a piece of paper and hold it up for him to see? Oh wait, I don't exactly appreciate being pursued in such a way.

Like I said, I know this happens time and time again to women everywhere. The thing that absolutely astounds me is men, not all, but many, do not understand how it makes a woman feel to be evaluated by her body or her hot pink sunglasses. It's degrading. It makes us feel worthless. At least that's how I feel. Understandably there are plenty of women out there who would love to get honked at or who seek that sort of attention. I am certainly not one of them and I personally hate being evaluated, pushed down or around, or sized up because of the way I look. There is a lot more to me than outside beauty. Hello, I have a mind.

I'm not accusing all men of being this way, I know there are so many who value women highly and see them as equals in the workplace and in life. So maybe I'm pointing out a small segment who are bored or whatever. But it pisses me off that we have to live in a society that treats women as such.

Case in point, when I explained to my boss (an older, white man) how I feel objectified and stared at and honked at walking up from this further away parking lot, he didn't even believe that objectified was a real word.