Winter coat as protection against more than just the cold
The Undercover Blonde reports on some street harassment as she hurried to work the day she didn't wear her coat:
... Then, once I was about ten feet away they started hollering: "Hey, snow bunny, where you goin'? It's gonna be alright! Damn, girl, you look good...." their voices faded into a gust of wind as I turned left to rush down Shawmut.
And there it was, that old familiar feeling: shame, embarrassment, one part anger, one part fear, seeping into my belly and up through my chest like terrible ink spilled on gleaming pale carpet. 100% usurping of my power. I realized as I walked: my puffy coat is more than just an armor against bad weather. It's an armor against catcalls. With its broad shapeless mid-section and its massive tent-like hood, my puffy has protected me from this feeling all winter long. ...
- Add new comment |
| 
| 
Right.
that old familiar feeling: shame, embarrassment, one part anger, one part fear, seeping into my belly and up through my chest like terrible ink spilled on gleaming pale carpet.
Right, because all men are animals who cannot control themselves, and at the sight of a pretty woman, will rip her clothing off and rape her in the middle of the street.
What a bunch of misandric bull.
Not all, but many
Only the most depraved man-haters would claim "all men are animals who cannot control themselves," but its not like there aren't any men who are animals who cannot control themselves. Of course, lechery is nothing new and its unlikely to go away anytime soon.
Undercover blonde?
However, UB has gone "undercover" to find out if blondes have more fun. Trying to mask one's attention grabbing antics as "science" does not make one immune from unwanted attention. UB says "world look at me! I'm smart and I'm doing a sociological experiment." Then she protests when people look and leer.
They weren't leering at her
They weren't leering at her hair.
It's true, Fornya...
I had a winter hat on while all of this was happening and my hair was barely visible. It wasn't about beauty or blondeness, this verbal onslaught was about power, plain and simple. In any case, I am impressed by your ability to read the subsequent comments and apologize. It's the first step one can take away from the blame the victim culture in which we currently reside.
Wait a sec
She's describing her feeling, and you're attacking her, mischaracterizing her statement, and calling her names?
She says she feels shame, embarassment, anger, fear, and your response is to attack her? Somebody made you lord god king of this woman's emotions? She gets to have them only when you say so?
Did you ever consider that you are part of the problem, not part of the solution? That you might diminish misandry more by being a better man than by attacking women? How much bad behavior do you justify by saying that it only made someone feel bad, and feelings aren't real, and they don't have a right to those feelings anyway?
Empathy, Please
It isn't just about "shame", it is about fear too. A group of guys making it clear what they would like you to do ... will they follow you and just take it by force?
Within every situation like she described is an implicit threat of attack. Most guys are just talk, but there isn't much way to tell if that is where it will end, particularly in a group situation. That threat is compounded in a society that tends to blame female victims of violence for being too provacative or leaving their houses and going out with friends rather than that subset of men who really cannot control themselves.
Sorry
I did not mean to imply that UB deserved ogling or any other mistreatment. The fear that women must often face in public is very real and not at all fun or funny.