I wish I’d spoken up more often.
Growing up, at school and at parties and at small gatherings, I heard young men say things about women. About how the women looked or what they’d like to do to them.
I spoke up to the worst, walked away from some. But I said nothing to too many of those young men, chuckled along to avoid conflict with a few. I wish I’d spoken up to everyone.
Men, we need to be better.
See, while I’ve outgrown most of that crowd, and those I haven’t outgrown have outgrown those distasteful comments, one person from those long-ago parties now sits in prison for sexual assault. I don’t know if it would have made a difference if I and others had called him out for the most obscene comments we heard, but it couldn’t have hurt.