THE WESTERN SUN/APRIL 22-MAY 5, 2015 5

Photo PollIs it OK to catcall or stare based on the way a women dresses?

“I’m a feminist, so obviously, no. A woman’s body isn’t public property. Just because a woman is showing skin in public doesnt give anyone the right to sexualize her private body.”Kaitlin Schell, 18, Huntington Beach, psychology.

“Everyone looks, but when you be-gin staring too long and saying stuff you’ve gone too far.“Richard Le, 20, Midway City, unde-cided.

“I think it’s natural to look, but as soon as a woman becomes uncom-fortable, you’ve gone too far.“Erik Carney, 20, Huntington Beach, computer science.

“It’s natural for men to look but they have to have enough self-control to stop themselves from staring or catcalling. Any actions beyond a few glances is unncessary.”Monserrat Pala, 19, Santa Ana, liberal arts.

Photos and interviews by Trevon Nesbit

WOMEN AND OTHERS RALLYING against public harassment.

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Amber Leikam

THE NIGHT SKY, as we seldom see it.

Women’s styles not for men’s smiles

FLICKR PHOTO

By Lola OlveraWestern Sun staff writer

When I was in middle school, a female student was told that she should stop wearing low cut tank tops because “it drove the boys crazy and distracted them from their home-work.” This casual comment was met by laughter and effectively made the pre-pubescent breasts of a 13-year-old girl responsible for the lust and poor performance of the school’s male population.

In school or out, girls are taught that that their clothing choices cause them to be harassed and assaulted, one of the most twisted lessons in present society. Tight leggings, mini skirts, and even visible bra straps are prohib-ited in school’s female dress codes. Instead of teaching boys to respect girls, they teach girls their bodies are inappropriate.

Being approached by skeevy men is a regular part of women’s lives--most of us are so used to it we’ve ended up ignoring or dismissing it as just another nuisance of the day.

Perceiving it as normal, however, actually makes things worse.

The reason men get away with sexual harassment--because, yes, this is a prevalently male behavior--is for the same reason men get away with everything else. They whip out their favorite excuse that they have bio-logical urges rendering them savages with no self-control over their sexual instincts.

How convenient for them. Many men feel entitled to having

women as visual pleasure. Some think we enjoy or seek this attention; others get satisfaction from knowing we are powerless to stop them. Although the vast majority of men are not rapists, this thought process, the basis of the rapist mentality, is all too common.

It’s hard to explain to men how sexual harassment feels because most men never experience it. It’s only when men are accosted by other men that they realize what it feels like to be on the receiving end of one of their so-called “compliments.” (For the record, compliments should not make you feel degraded or threatened).

And although women are assaulted and harassed whether they’re wear-

ing sweats or a mini dress, no one gets as much stigma than girls who were wearing form-fitting or revealing clothes.

Society teaches women a great contradiction that we should look pretty enough for men to want us but not pretty enough so that men attack us. Men reinforce this idea by ogling women in sexy clothing and then put-ting those kinds of women down as morally inferior.

Enough with telling women to stop dressing “provocatively.” Wearing a short skirt should not provoke sexual ag-gression any more than wearing an ugly shirt should provoke a punch in the face.

And enough with dismissing men’s behavior with “Men are pigs.” Men are not pigs, they are human beings, fully capable of learning a little respect if we actually start requiring them to.

It’s time we see the sky againIt was the early 1990’s when Los

Angeles was experiencing widespread power outages; in a city that is always lit brightly it went dark for the first time in ages. Panic ensued and calls to 911 began to flow in, and no it wasn’t over when the power was going to be turned back on, it was over a strange silvery cloud that hung in the sky.

People fearing what it could possi-bly be were calmed when they were told it was the Milky Way. It was just the stars, but for many of these life long city residents it was the first time they had seen them.

Now while this does sound silly, how could people not now what the stars were? It is all too common for many to not realize that they don’t truly see the night sky either. Light pollution hides the natural beauty of the world above us, and while light pollution is probably not as serious as the pollution in our water, air and ground doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.

Other than the problem it poses

to our natural sleep pattern, it also disrupts the animal’s patterns. Take the sea turtle who uses the night sky for their mating and they’re not alone in taking to the sky for their behavior with other creatures such as birds, flora, and fauna using it as a necessary part of life.

With the past week (April 13-19) being International Dark Sky Week its time we learn how to slow down the ever growing light pollution problem, that’s growing at a rate of four percent every year and take a look at the sky once more, and it might be as simple as changing a light bulb like how Los

Angeles changed to LED which dras-tically decreased the light pollution.

Personally growing up in a rural community between Las Vegas and Death Valley with Las Vegas being about 70 miles away I know the sky with nothing but the light of the moon.

I’ve seen the silver cloud of the Milky Way on most nights and how the constellations get muddled be-cause there were too many stars not because of to much light. And I think it’s time that everyone should get that sight whether there’s not a building for miles or you’re on top of a skyscraper.