Last Updated on May 3, 2019 by Crystal | Dates in the States
This is a story I haven’t told many people and never thought I would feel comfortable to do so. However, I was inspired by a speech given by Beth Santos while attending a seminar today at The Women in Travel Summit. She spoke about women traveling and feeling safe to travel as a woman in today’s world. That we shouldn’t be expected to protect ourselves and that the cities we visit should learn to protect us, their citizens and tourists from danger.
As women, we all want the world to be like that; where we don’t have to avoid alleyways or carry pepper spray. As women, we should work together and support one another.
The perception of many women travelers are that men are the predators when we travel, but that’s not always the case. Women fight against one another and we need to work together to make the world a better place.
A few months ago, I toured Chicago with a female friend of mine. At the end of our weekend trip, we were spending our last night eating pizza at Giordano’s (Chicago’s famous deep dish) and touring Navy Pier. I was walking alongside her, on the phone with Shane, and carrying our box of leftover pizza when these 3 or 4 women were approaching us. The one girl looked at me as she was walking towards me and asked if she could have my pizza and unexpectedly reached for the box. Walking past her, I pulled the box away from her reach as a natural reaction. I hadn’t said anything to her because I was on the phone and everything was just happening so fast. All of a sudden, she turned and slapped my arm so hard that she left a mark. I quickly turned around and put down my phone and screamed at her wondering, “What the F***?!” Her and the other women started coming towards us acting as though they wanted to start something. As much as I wanted to fight back, we turned around and walked away. We walked away because we didn’t know if they had weapons or what they were going to do next and we didn’t want to get involved.
Come to find out, Chicago and other cities are in a race war. Still to this day I wonder, was it really about race? Or was it just females trying to intimidate others to make themselves feel better? I suppose I will never really know.
It’s a shame that women do this to one another when the world is already unsafe. No matter our color or race, we should be sticking by each other. Not harassing one another on the street. We get that enough from random men in everyday life. I shouldn’t be afraid of women when walking down the street, I should feel safe and connected.
So, if there is one thing that I would like to ask from one woman to another – if you’re walking down the street and you pass a woman, say, “Hello” and simply smile. Don’t look down, don’t look at your phone, don’t harass, just say a simple, “Hello.” We need to change this world, and simply being polite is one step towards ending a war.
