Women share 25 perfectly normal things they feel weird doing in public

Pretty much every woman alive today—and before our time—has experienced sexism in one form or the other at various points in their lives. Despite this being such a widespread issue, the sad reality is that we are still eons away from completely ridding our society of sex-based discrimination. This was made even more evident by the hundreds of responses to this question posted by Reddit user u/protehule: "What are actions or movements that you feel uncomfortable performing in public because you're a woman?" Shared to the r/AskWomen Reddit community, the query shined an unflattering light on how messed up our society is.

Here are 25 of the top responses:

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"I once had to bend down to pick up some change that fell from my wallet, a moron came behind my back imitating he was riding me, he was with a bunch of other guys, and they were all very entertained by it, and one of them took an empty bag of chips and put it inside my top. I was in middle school. I can't really bend down anymore when I'm surrounded by men, lol..." — ComicStrip_69 

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"I remember in high school I was just minding my own business eating an ice cream (cone) and across the table my male friends made gross/sexualized comments about it (like, 'Ohhh my pants are getting really tight' etc). Like, dude WTF just let me enjoy my favorite food in peace. I only have milkshakes or ice creams in cups/with waffles after that incident. Scarred for life." — KitKatCookie9 

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"This one doesn't seem to be very common, but, taking off my jacket, even when it's getting way too warm and I'm starting to sweat. I always fear that one of the people nearby is a wacko who will mistake it as me doing it specifically to show off my body to him. It seems incredibly silly to me as I'm typing this out, but I'm kinda paranoid anyway, so idk." — IndependentCrazy 

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"Sometimes just existing. For example, I've recently stopped shaving my legs and the amount of hateful or gross comments I've gotten from strange men on the street is genuinely insane and frightening." — aliciachiquata 

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"Running or even just walking briskly. I’m breastfeeding right now and because of that, my boobies are pretty huge. There’s just no containing them. I was chasing after my toddler and those bad boys were just bouncing everywhere. I ran up some stairs in public the other day and every single guy was looking at me." — cuckedprincess

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"Reaching on a high shelf to get something. I am only 5’1 so often times I have to step on a shelf and really stretch out to reach. Anytime someone has extended help it’s always been a female. I’ve caught many men just standing behind me staring. It doesn’t even matter what you have on for clothes as shirts ride up from the reaching." — This_Lingonberry_695

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"I am not a hugger in general. But, I especially hate hugging people I'm not related to because I have 32 Gs. There is literally no way I can hug people without pressing my chest against them. It automatically feels off to me and I hate it. I also have a baby and handing her off to people is super awkward for similar reasons. The amount of times people (mostly men) have casually touched my breasts is insane. I will remove my baby from my chest then you take her." — valerieswrld

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"I was making a really quick ponytail while waiting for the elevator (hot day and open hair is a bad combo) and these two guys stepped out, looked at me, and snickered, whispering 'she's getting ready to get down.' Implying I was preparing to give a BJ to someone. It was so embarrassing ..." — FailedIntrovert 

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"Just walking in most clothes. School uniform? Harassed. Martial arts kimono? Harassed. Gym clothes? Harassed. Jeans and a t-shirt? Harassed. Long skirt? Harassed. Literally, the only type of clothing that has never given me any unwanted attention were hideous oversized clothes and ugly shoes. I used those for my first few teen years because I hated the attention my body brought, and I am not even "curvy". I was fat with a wide waist, face, and lots of acne, and using shorts still got me harassed." — yeepix