For the idiots on this thread who are trying to use feminist opposition to sexual harassment and assault as a way to “prove” that feminists have some secret agenda against male lust, I offer a funny story from my college years that has always demonstrated to me why men with healthy, mature sexualities should be aligned with feminists on this issue.
So I’m at home one Saturday afternoon in college, and I decide I want to get a ginormous Diet Coke at the 7-11. It’s around the corner, so I walk. It’s hot outside, so I’m wearing a kind of thin T-shirt, cut-off shorts, and sandals. Legs were visible, therefore I’m an attractive target for men who want to say I deserve it if men harass me while pretending to flirt, because I was asking for it. On my way home, a guy in a car pulls up and starts following me, harassing me while disguising it as flirting. Contrary to what guys in this thread are claiming, there were no illusions on his side or mine that the subtext of the conversation was anything but, “You are vulnerable and I could really hurt you, and you know it. Now cringe some more, dear.” But what he said was something along the lines of, “You’re so pretty blah blah get in the car.” Even that pretend flirting is creepy, no? The entitlement—-he sees the object, he wants to have it, and my desire to be safe is merely an obstacle between him and his desires.
Anyway, I say no, and then after a moment, tell him to fuck off, and reach for my keys in case I need a weapon. (But it’s because I’m a man-hating feminist that I think I need a weapon because some no doubt not at all rape-inclined sweetheart of a guy couldn’t take no for an answer, right?) He drives off after a minute, and I hurry home, making sure to wind my way through the apartment complex so he can’t follow me home. Which is further evidence that women are fickle, of course, because I was inviting “flirting” with my cut-off shorts.