I recently graduated from high school, and went from getting no attention from the opposite gender (other than as a good friend) to getting far too much. At first, it was kind of fun, but then it got to the point where I was really annoyed. Most of the attention I have been getting has been very demeaning and inappropriate, and I don't appreciate it. One of my coworkers even went as far as to slap my butt in front of customers yesterday. He's engaged! How dare he?
I have been forced to come to the conclusion that our society accepts this sort of behavior. If we had higher expectations, these problems would not be so prominent. Somehow, we need to teach girls and boys that girls are more than pieces of ass, that girls are human beings with feelings who deserve respect. Girls crave attention, and it makes them vulnerable, especially when the attention is not something they are accustomed to.
The jokes and the inappropriate comments are flattering to girls who do not fully understand, but they also can cause confusion and discomfort. Girls need to be taught how to set boundaries, this is where our society fails. We accept that young men and boys will be chasing tail, and we do little to discourage it. It becomes the responsibility of the girl, who too often doesn't know what to do. She fears that she will be seen as a b**** or as making a big deal out of nothing. Society has the power to change this by changing our expectations, so why don't we?
Sexual Harassment
By lennon12 - Posted on July 11th, 2009
The problem, females file Sexual Harassment on the good guys for any little thing and let A-Holes get away with murder. It is up to you to follow and make sure the rules of Sexual Harassment are obeyed. You are society.
If a female open her door with her light shining bright, the men will come even late in the night. If her light goes out, they will leave for fright of night. We are only given so much fuel, use it wishly.
Let love be you mentor!
Don't let guys get away with slapping your ass. If you had said to him, "That was not okay. Don't EVER do that again!" both your coworker and that customer would think a little differently about the approriateness of slapping a woman's ass. It has to start somewhere, right? The butterfly effect of simply standing up for oneself can be quite far reaching.
And I don't mean to be blaming the victim, btw. I understand that it must have been quite an embarrassing moment and how could you be expected to speak up when flustered like that? But keep that in mind for the next time it happens to you (because it will happen many many more times) so you are prepared to speak up. We women let men get away with objectifying us far too often, so they think it's okay. If more men got reprimanded for such behavior, they would eventually learn that women have feelings and voices and that we are not just tits and ass on stilts.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman