There is nothing wrong with crawling into a corner with a book and waiting for the badness to go away. Withdrawing can be very helpful sometimes. Just remember to come back later :)
Now I live in a not-quite-city and I walk everywhere. I went from getting street harassment once a month or once every five months to almost daily, at least weekly. It varies. Some are just sexual. Some are general cow calls and cat calls. Some are oddly baffling, because they say something so far out of context that I'm like, "HEY-...what?" Others are degrading about my size. The comments that tear into me for being a piggy fatty are almost more welcome than the cars full of four guys who offer to ride my chubs. Doing me a favor, you know. I'm considering carrying a wooden bat. I figure, in theory, that anyone who saw me carrying a bat and could do basic math on how much their headlights cost might rethink shouting sexual threats/comments at me in the street. It would at the very least deter anyone from walking too close or "zooming" me on their bikes.
I was just having a conversation with bitsyboo about the notion of catcalling because it truly baffles me. Are these men thinking it is appropriate/expected of them to do this? What would
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A huge part of the "point" of street harassment is power. Specifically demonstrating their gender-given-right of power over the lesser half of the species for the onlookers who are also his gender.
I have never once been cat called or "HEY MAMACITA"ed at while a man was standing alone. Which is not to say men alone are less dangerous while walking, just that they don't exhibit that particular behavior. It's about peers, and showing off. They're schoolyard bullies with the added bonus of sexual overtones and threats! Woot!
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"Shillelagh! "
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Now I live in a not-quite-city and I walk everywhere. I went from getting street harassment once a month or once every five months to almost daily, at least weekly. It varies. Some are just sexual. Some are general cow calls and cat calls. Some are oddly baffling, because they say something so far out of context that I'm like, "HEY-...what?" Others are degrading about my size. The comments that tear into me for being a piggy fatty are almost more welcome than the cars full of four guys who offer to ride my chubs. Doing me a favor, you know. I'm considering carrying a wooden bat. I figure, in theory, that anyone who saw me carrying a bat and could do basic math on how much their headlights cost might rethink shouting sexual threats/comments at me in the street. It would at the very least deter anyone from walking too close or "zooming" me on their bikes.
I was just having a conversation with bitsyboo about the notion of catcalling because it truly baffles me. Are these men thinking it is appropriate/expected of them to do this? What would ( ... )
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I have never once been cat called or "HEY MAMACITA"ed at while a man was standing alone. Which is not to say men alone are less dangerous while walking, just that they don't exhibit that particular behavior. It's about peers, and showing off. They're schoolyard bullies with the added bonus of sexual overtones and threats! Woot!
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It's very three-year-old, without the excuse of not knowing better.
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