Man on the Street: A PSA for Midtown Sacramento
On Wednesday morning, a Sacramento-based journalist shared her personal experience of being harassed and threatened during a recent bike ride in Midtown to her 13.8K Twitter followers. For many women, Stephanie Buck’s account would likely feel at least somewhat familiar.
While taking an early evening ride in the sunlight, Buck stopped her bicycle for car traffic to pass in a populated area of Midtown. When she did, her internal alarm was raised by a man walking by, erratically, who locked eyes with her and tried to engage verbally. She ignored him until he physically approached her, at which point she said, “No.” She started to pedal away when traffic had passed, as he laughed and yelled that he would chase her. He sprinted after her with his arms outstretched until Buck was able to speed up and get enough distance between them. She wrote that, terrified, she got to a safe place and called 911, reporting the incident in a shaky voice.
Two things struck me about Buck’s story. First, it’s an experience so many women relate to, including some who retweeted her thread. “Ugh, this story is unfortunately so relatable for so many of us,” one woman wrote. “I’ve always felt safer when biking, I guess women are never truly safe,” another lamented.
What also struck me was the fact that this was the second time in a week I’d seen a woman take to social media to share her story of being threatened in Midtown. Another Sacramento woman posted in her Instagram stories that, while walking in her neighborhood recently, a man lunged at and spit on her before two women stepped in to help. Shaken, she asked herself: What if they hadn’t been there to help? When Buck got home from her bike ride, she asked herself: What if I hadn’t pedaled fast enough?
It is a shame that women cannot simply walk, bike or exist in public space without worrying about whether or not they are safe. As I tweeted in response to Buck’s story, “Who knows if this is the same guy [in both instances]. I just know it breaks my heart that women can't feel safe simply existing in our community.” It breaks my heart, too, that so many other women and myself know the feeling of being on edge as we navigate the world.
I don’t want this piece to be a how-to for women to keep safe. We should be allowed to wear what we want, act how we want, exist in this world however we want without threat of harm. Period. This is simply a PSA to say that there are men on the street who somehow take delight in scaring and threatening to harm women. Everyone in Midtown, or wherever you may be reading this, stay vigilant. If you feel the need to remove yourself from a situation, trust your gut and, as the women of My Favorite Murder say, Fuck Politeness. Your safety comes first. And if you see something that looks off and think a woman may be harmed, please step in and help her.
I plan to follow up on this piece in the coming days. If you’ve experienced street harassment and would like to speak for the follow-up, please reach out on Twitter at @katejgonzales or via email at katemgonzales3@gmail.com.
Stay tuned and stay safe.
(Screenshots are a selection of Buck’s Twitter thread, used with the author’s permission).
