Sexual harassment
Wow.
WARNING: Trigger warnings for sexual harassment and sexual assault, as well as a serious dose of misogyny.
Here is a link to a reddit discussion of "what is the most ridiculous thing you've had to do to get a guy to leave you alone?"
Several of these made me cry, because it's when you read things like this that you realize what women have to go through, day to day.
I would also suggest reading the following ontd_political post: Women and sexual harassment.
I also thought I'd share some of my experiences here.
Experience #1: I was at a city bookstore and was looking at books. I just randomly raised my head once or twice to see what was going on around me. I noticed, in passing, a man who was sitting in a chair not far from me.
I left the bookstore around closing time (=I'm a bookworm!) and started walking home. I noticed that the man who had been sitting more or less across from me in the bookstore earlier was walking behind me. I kept walking.
I walked for roughly 45 min. through the city and noticed that this guy really was following me (unless there is another explanation for the fact that he was ALWAYS several steps behind me?). I kept walking until I got to my street (=that I lived on) and was about to pass in front of where I lived. I decided that I REALLY did not want this guy to know where I lived, so I kept walking, keeping to busy streets.
The guy kept following me. And kept following me. And kept following me.
Finally, I had had enough.
I turned around and waited for him to come closer to me, then yelled at him: "STOP FOLLOWING ME!"
He mumbled something about not having followed me (seriously?) and ran away.
Experience #2: While walking my dog (=dog was on a leash) at the park.
"I wish I could take the place of the dog!"
For me, personally, I wish your momma would have washed your mouth out with soap at a young age so you would have learned some manners, including the fact that sexually harassing women who are just minding their own business makes you an asshole.
Experience #3: While walking to school several years ago, I passed a man who was easily three (3) times my age. He yelled out the following.
"Hey baby I have a really big one!"
Experience #4: Then of course there were the men who yelled at me from a car while I was jogging and commented on my weight (apparently it was too high for them). I was enjoying my run until they ruined it for me.
Experience #5: I had stopped on the street when an unknown man came up and smacked my ass. He thought it was really funny, despite the fact that I yelled at him and seriously asked him why he thought it was okay to do this.
Experience #6: Going into the city subway, I passed a man who was standing next to stairs that everyone had to take in order to reach the train. As I went by, the man began describing his genitals. I walked away, feeling thoroughly nauseated.
I was even more nauseated when I realized that he had positioned himself where he was in order to say the kind of things he had said to me to any woman going by. So I got angry.
I had to pass by him again to do this, but I went up the stairs and away from the train tracks in order to talk to the ticketing agent. I alerted them that there was a man who was systematically harassing women as they went by (I had actually witnessed him doing this to another woman). I asked the agent to call security -she was about to do so when the man, realizing what I was doing, ran away.
Honestly, I was kinda proud of myself there. :-D
Experience #7: I rented a particular apartment in my city. The landlord's manager, who was the person I wound up interacting with for rent etc., was a real piece of work. One particularly irksome detail: his behavior was systematically different with women/female tenants.
While he didn't sexually harass as in the above examples, he seemed to think it was perfectly okay to 'talk down' to me, as though I had an IQ equal to the size of my shoe (i.e. which are actually measured using single digits where I live). The fuck???
I made sure to tell him (more than once!) that I had multiple university degrees. He once asked me WHY I was informing him of this. I replied, "Because you're speaking to me in a tone+manner which implies that I am a moron".
This is something I've seen SO MANY men do to women.
For example, why is it that so many (i.e. those who are MALE!) computer techs have ASSUMED that my mother is a moron whenever she has asked a question regarding her computer? (NB: My mother also has several university degrees under her belt!!)
Men can really suck, I tell you.
PS: The above is just a sampling, really.
WARNING: Trigger warnings for sexual harassment and sexual assault, as well as a serious dose of misogyny.
Here is a link to a reddit discussion of "what is the most ridiculous thing you've had to do to get a guy to leave you alone?"
Several of these made me cry, because it's when you read things like this that you realize what women have to go through, day to day.
I would also suggest reading the following ontd_political post: Women and sexual harassment.
I also thought I'd share some of my experiences here.
Experience #1: I was at a city bookstore and was looking at books. I just randomly raised my head once or twice to see what was going on around me. I noticed, in passing, a man who was sitting in a chair not far from me.
I left the bookstore around closing time (=I'm a bookworm!) and started walking home. I noticed that the man who had been sitting more or less across from me in the bookstore earlier was walking behind me. I kept walking.
I walked for roughly 45 min. through the city and noticed that this guy really was following me (unless there is another explanation for the fact that he was ALWAYS several steps behind me?). I kept walking until I got to my street (=that I lived on) and was about to pass in front of where I lived. I decided that I REALLY did not want this guy to know where I lived, so I kept walking, keeping to busy streets.
The guy kept following me. And kept following me. And kept following me.
Finally, I had had enough.
I turned around and waited for him to come closer to me, then yelled at him: "STOP FOLLOWING ME!"
He mumbled something about not having followed me (seriously?) and ran away.
Experience #2: While walking my dog (=dog was on a leash) at the park.
"I wish I could take the place of the dog!"
For me, personally, I wish your momma would have washed your mouth out with soap at a young age so you would have learned some manners, including the fact that sexually harassing women who are just minding their own business makes you an asshole.
Experience #3: While walking to school several years ago, I passed a man who was easily three (3) times my age. He yelled out the following.
"Hey baby I have a really big one!"
Experience #4: Then of course there were the men who yelled at me from a car while I was jogging and commented on my weight (apparently it was too high for them). I was enjoying my run until they ruined it for me.
Experience #5: I had stopped on the street when an unknown man came up and smacked my ass. He thought it was really funny, despite the fact that I yelled at him and seriously asked him why he thought it was okay to do this.
Experience #6: Going into the city subway, I passed a man who was standing next to stairs that everyone had to take in order to reach the train. As I went by, the man began describing his genitals. I walked away, feeling thoroughly nauseated.
I was even more nauseated when I realized that he had positioned himself where he was in order to say the kind of things he had said to me to any woman going by. So I got angry.
I had to pass by him again to do this, but I went up the stairs and away from the train tracks in order to talk to the ticketing agent. I alerted them that there was a man who was systematically harassing women as they went by (I had actually witnessed him doing this to another woman). I asked the agent to call security -she was about to do so when the man, realizing what I was doing, ran away.
Honestly, I was kinda proud of myself there. :-D
Experience #7: I rented a particular apartment in my city. The landlord's manager, who was the person I wound up interacting with for rent etc., was a real piece of work. One particularly irksome detail: his behavior was systematically different with women/female tenants.
While he didn't sexually harass as in the above examples, he seemed to think it was perfectly okay to 'talk down' to me, as though I had an IQ equal to the size of my shoe (i.e. which are actually measured using single digits where I live). The fuck???
I made sure to tell him (more than once!) that I had multiple university degrees. He once asked me WHY I was informing him of this. I replied, "Because you're speaking to me in a tone+manner which implies that I am a moron".
This is something I've seen SO MANY men do to women.
For example, why is it that so many (i.e. those who are MALE!) computer techs have ASSUMED that my mother is a moron whenever she has asked a question regarding her computer? (NB: My mother also has several university degrees under her belt!!)
Men can really suck, I tell you.
PS: The above is just a sampling, really.