“It helps if you wear skimpy clothes, trust me! You’ll get us way more tips that way;” the words of my ignorant coworker still rings in my ears.  Like most, this ridiculous individual does not respect the fact that to earn money as a woman, you do not need to exploit your body to the public.  What a concept!

However, for some stupid reason I complied with this idiot from that moment on; not because I wanted the unneeded attention, but because I trusted my fellow elder workers to not do me wrong and I also suffer from being a desperate people-pleaser.  The even more upsetting thing is I did not even dress that proactively, my body was not hanging out any which way. I wore tank tops or t-shirts with gym shorts.

So why is it that because of some “trashy” work-out apparel I was met with an overabundance of rude comments, stares, touches, and too many sleazy guys numbers’ in my tip jar?  Am I really at fault for over-exposing my body? Do I deserve it? Or are these men at fault for not being able to contain their simple, horny minds?

As a feminist, I of course, do not believe I am at fault for being comfortable enough to wear tighter fitting clothes; that would be defending the harsh rape culture where girls are to blame for what they were wearing at the time of a rape; they were “asking for it.”

The first sexual harassment was sadly by a man nearly in his fifties.  What began as a normal and friendly conversation, turned into a screaming match where I claimed “I am probably the age of your daughter!” After creepily harassing me to go on a date by this obscenely overage man, I lost it.

On top of creepy old men, my work is filled to the tip at lunch time with construction workers. And they also did not spare me from their wrath.  Once those doors opened, and I scrambled to cook lunch, the rude comments started rolling in as well.  “Dang your *** is fine girl! Isn’t her *** fine?” “You’re the only reason why people come in here, so everyone can stare.”  One rude individual even asked where I was on the menu.

These comments made me feel nothing but insecure and like a slut, and once it hit an all-time peak, I was happy to be out of that job.

However I’m not the only teenage girl who suffers from sexual harassment in the work place.  For some reason, men feel that it is appropriate to sexualize young girls at such an inappropriate time.

But why is it that us women accept this as the “norm?” we deserve better and are worth way more than the way vulgar and rude individuals make us out to be.