'Yo yo - This cute girl walks by,' I am half listening as I check my emails on my phone on an ordinary weekday afternoon in Camden, when I realise the rapper busking on the street corner is talking about me.
'She's the kinda girl that puts me in the moood - but right now she's being pretty RUDE - '
My head is still buried in my emails when he points at me. I look up. And then, wait for it, he begins to angry rap. Yes. And he's looking right into my EYES. It's awkward. Is this really happening? Am I on camera? A small crowd is assembling.
Then I do the unthinkable - I jump up to the mic and start free-styling. Yup, a verbal fountain all about feminism and how to treat women with respect... all the good shit. Or, at least that's what I would have done that if I wasn't already running late. But I did tweet about it later on the bus ride home - that'll show him!
Is it just me, or is sexism getting worse in London?
Six months ago I was groped in the street on the way home from the cinema. Yup, a guy just crossed the road and squeezed my boob.
Pardon monsieur, did you mistake my right breast for a hunk of jambon? Did someone tattoo free-for-all on my face? Had I suddenly been teleported to a third world country?
If this confident young man had the guts to grope a stranger in public on a London street, I'd hate to think what he's doing behind closed doors.
Today's sexism is blunt, shameless and PUBLIC.
Hot Topic
With Emma Watson's history making UN speech for the HeforShe campaign, Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize and the UN's International Day of the Girl Child circulating the news in recent weeks, it's an understatement to say that feminism is a hot topic right now. Feminism is on FIRE! In the media, at least...
However, despite all the discussion, on the ground it feels like sexism is getting worse in the West. We really aren't there yet. Not even close.
I talk to my girlfriends about it. Maybe I'm paranoid? Turns out - I'm not alone.
We are living in one of the most influential cosmopolitan cities in the world. We are striving for success and prosperity, yet sexism for many women is a daily threat. It's like London has turned into the Wild West - we need a few more John Wayne's out their shutting down this bad behaviour. Maybe we all need to be more John Wayne?
Grassroots campaigns are great. Yes, let's talk about it on our social media. But what are we actually doing to eradicate this misogyny? There's a lot of talk but what have we got to show for it?
This isn't just even an I'm not feeling valued thing. This is a safety thing. And I sure as hell don't feel safe walking home at night in my neighborhood.
I thought London was supposed to represent freedom and opportunity? But maybe I have been disillusioned with how far we have really come.
Statistics
1 in 2 women in the UK have experienced physical or sexual abuse.
68% of women in the UK have suffered sexual harassment since the age of 15.
The current pay gap is at 15% according to some surveys.
66,000 women are at risk of Female Gentile Mutilation on home soil.
...Emmeline Pankhurst would be rolling in her grave.
Over 60,000 ordinary women have reported their experiences on Laura Bate's Everyday Sexism Project - further evidence that the threat is real and local, not just a global concern.
It's on our front door yet the message still doesn't seem to be getting through to the very people perpetuating this misogyny. My own mother came to this country from India to escape this kind of oppression, so her children wouldn't have to put up with with this shit, yet, here I am.
As for my beloved London - this can't be the future of this great city.
For more from Yazmin visit aliljoy.com.