This Is How Women Feel Walking Alone At Night

Every woman has felt it: that creeping sensation you get when you’re just walking down the street and suddenly some jerk starts following you and yelling not-so-PG things in your direction. Many of us probably just roll our eyes and pick up our pace, but I know in the back of my head, I personally am always thinking: “What would I do if this turns into a serious threat?”

In a powerful new video called “What’s It’s Like To Be A Woman At Night,” Buzzfeed interviewed women on the how they feel while walking alone after dark — and the results are spot-on. As the ladies in the clip point out, it’s a scenario that may not sound particularly threatening, but actually causes a lot of fear and anxiety in women everywhere. “You try to tell yourself that you’re a brave, strong person and you shouldn’t be afraid of walking alone,” one woman says. “It sounds really simple and easy, but that’s just not the case.”

It’s an unfortunate reality to face, especially in this day and age when we all want to think men and women are equals. But the sad truth is, most guys I know wouldn’t blink twice at walking home by themselves at night. Meanwhile, (as much as the stubborn, strong-minded control freak in me hates to admit it) I purposely start fishing for my keys a block before I get to my apartment so I can get inside as quickly as possible.

The women in the video also have their own ways of coping with this fear, from carrying around a pocketknife to putting their keys in between their knuckles to “feel like Wolverine.” In the end though, these methods only help so much and they definitely don't solve the real problem: that women even feel the need to be ready to defend themselves in the first place.

Image: Buzzfeed