Rebecca is a rising junior interning with Hollaback! this summer.

It may seem ironic to some that Catholic school inspired me to join the Moxie Project. Let’s be honest, between doctrines that stifle sexuality (especially women’s), demonize homosexuality, and limit reproductive rights…it’s a wonder I didn’t come out of that place a Republican closed-minded puritan. Tired political jokes aside, nothing could have motivated me to work for Hollaback! like having to wear a Catholic schoolgirl uniform on the streets of Atlanta. It was pretty much impossible to go anywhere after school without experiencing some form of unwanted hootin’ and hollerin’, largely from the older crowd I might add, and it always made me just downright uncomfortable. Alas, I was but a reluctant, timid high schooler with no idea how to react to these creepy, unwanted advances…

Enter Hollaback!…a nonprofit that aims to combat this harassment that women face every day. If you’re female, then you know all too well that you don’t have to be wearing a stereotypically fetishized blouse/plaid skort/knee sock combo to be a target (although believe me, it does help). Street harassment is all too common for women everywhere, and while most of us choose to respond with a simple roll of the eyes, this quiet acceptance is sending a message…and it may not be the message we’re hoping for. Not speaking out against street harassment maintains that women should passively accept unwanted advances, perpetuating objectification and rape culture. Men have zero entitlement to women’s bodies, and if we empower ourselves against street harassment, we can begin to send that message loud and clear.

I began to feel that street harassment was at least a somewhat obvious problem—something any rational individual could support—until I visited a good friend last weekend. I was giving my typical spiel about the Moxie Project and street harassment (see above), feeling like Emily May and the rest of the Hollaback! staff would have been beaming with pride. However, my friend, a perfectly rational and very intelligent individual, albeit male, responded completely unexpectedly. He not only said that street harassment should be viewed as complimentary and desired, but he basically suggested that the only reason women experience catcalling more than men is because women are better to look at. Now I can’t say I disagree with his opinion on the differential aesthetic appeal between men and women, but the rest of his words caught me entirely off guard. The worst part was that I just couldn’t seem to convince him otherwise. In that moment I realized anticlimactically that (1) men really just don’t understand what women experience every day and (2) they make excuses for their actions. These probably don’t exactly classify as earth-shattering, but they have given me some direction for what I want to accomplish this summer…like figuring out the best way to respond to downright ignorance.

So here’s to a summer of progress and discovery for Rebecca – this Catholic schoolgirl is ready to delve into the Moxie Project head-on. I’m attacking this summer to figure out my own relationship with feminism. This summer won’t always be easy or fun—but it’ll sure as hell be worth it.