Man I feel this so hard. I was stalked by a pedophile when I was 12. For 2 years. That’s when it started. I’m 40 now and I can’t go jogging without thinking every man coming towards me is going to expose himself or try to rape me.

Just the other day I tried to curl my hair for work. It looked cute. It was the week of thanksgiving and I work at a college. I decided to wear a sweater dress, something a little risqué for me, thinking no one would really be on campus anyway. Wrong. I was walking to the office from my lab and a man I had never seen before told me “I love the way you look coming towards me just now. You have a very fashionable figure”. I just wanted to be invisible and cute. But you can’t do both.

You get more used to it as you get older. I mostly just take the compliment and say thanks.

But as far as the men talking down to you; I only have ever worked in male dominant fields. You have got to be tough. And learn everything you can and become smarter than them and more passionate than them. That’s the only way to shut them up.