Alicia Keys used tomboy style as defense mechanism against men

Most people associate Alicia Keys with a strong, powerful female role model, but underneath her "tomboy" exterior is an all too relatable past.

In an inspiring blog post she posted on her website August 10, Keys talks about the struggles of growing up in a city as a young woman. She recalls the street harassment she faced as a teen, which caused her to change her style to detract male attention.

%shareLinks-quote="I definitely started hiding when I got old enough to walk down my NY streets alone. I started to notice a drastic difference in how men would relate to me if I had on jeans, or if I had on a skirt, or if my hair was done pretty." type="quote" author="Alicia Keys" authordesc="Blog" isquoteoftheday="false"%

She continues on in her blog post to say, "I could tell the difference, I could feel the animal instinct in them and it scared me. I didn't want to be talked to in that way, looked at in that way, whistled after, followed. And so I started hiding. I chose the baggy jeans and timbs, I chose the ponytail and hat, I chose no makeup, no bright color lipstick or pretty dresses. I chose to hide. Pieces at a time. Less trouble that way."

See, even celebrities faced street harassment in their pasts. Hopefully the media attention Key brings to this serious issue can alleviate some pressures women face daily.

See more Alicia Keys in all her glory:

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