Fan Mail that Fuels Us

As many of you know, we are an all-volunteer team that work long hours above and beyond our regular jobs to make Hollaback happen. We are inspired and invigorated by each and every post that comes in, and we respond personally to all the fan mail. The letter below was too honest, too beautiful, and too important to keep to ourselves. I hope you enjoy it, and remember: keep holla'ing back! Dear Hollaback, Thank you so much for what you do, I really hope that your website continues to grow and create more awareness for as long as possible. I'm only 17 years old, and I moved to the city 2 months ago. Every day I've been getting unwanted and unsolicited attention from strange men. I didn't want to tell my parents because I knew they'd either think I was exaggerating or want me to come home as we come from a very small, sweet town where nothing like this has happened in twenty years. Thankfully, I don't have any horror stories, but I feel like I'm always dealing with 'Hey Beautiful' or 'That's a real nice dress you got there' or 'seductive' stares or 'accidental' subway touching. I'm a ballet dancer and whenever I walk back home beet red and sweaty I always get comments and uncomfortably sexual gestures directed at me.Until I came across your website I didn't know that this constituted as sexual harassment. It's amazing how extensively they cover plagiarism in high school, but not sexual harassment. I knew it made me very uncomfortable, especially men in groups, but I felt like I was making a big deal out of nothing because the words were 'nice' (I've never been sworn at) even though the intent wasn't. I'm an extremely quiet, shy, insecure person and I feel like these jerks can sense that and prey on girls like me. But when I came across your website, I felt a sense of empowerment and comfort in the knowledge that others recognized that this was really happening and that it was wrong. I feel like a lot of people write off street harassment like it's no big deal, so I was worried that if I told someone, they would just say I was being oversensitive and silly. God (or whichever deity you do/don't believe in) bless you, what you're doing takes incredible courage. I really can't thank you enough for helping for me to feel justified in my discomfort, to know that I wasn't being oversensitive. Sorry if this is kind of rambling, I just wanted to let you know how much I truly appreciated the work you do. Thank you, E.