Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-43782881-20200803074517/@comment-27950421-20200804005728

Gnomehunter wrote: '''My point in mentioning catcalling is not to suggest that it is the worst thing that anyone has to deal with, but that it is a very small but regular and consistent issue that women and girls deal with. And honestly, I’m not sure a lot of men, myself included, do actually understand what it’s like to be yelled at by random men, every day, completely unwanted attention, maybe even when they’re very young. You’ve heard about Chinese water torture? Drip, drip, drip, etc. on your head. For hours. Days. How about an entire portion of your life? From hearing women’s accounts of the experience, I think a lot of men, if they actually had to deal with this, would be ready to beat someone senseless. But women can’t do that. Because they’re smaller. Not as strong. Because a physical retaliation to verbal comments would be viewed as an escalation and she would be punished. Because the man is exercising his power and making her feel small on purpose, and so she has to put up with it. '''

Alright, I understand that you weren't making it out like cat calling is the worst thing ever and I am intimately familiar with how negative attention can impact a person over the long run. You don’t need explain that to me. And no, I did not beat anyone senseless, even if some of them deserved it. A lot of men are familiar with what you describe here. And for the record, no. Most men would not beat the shit out of someone for it. Argue back? Sure. Treat them as barking dogs on the side of the road and ignore them? That's exactly what I did. Attack someone? No, most guys aren't gonna do that.

I also think you're assuming malicious intent where stupidity more than accounts for it. I mean, if the guy is insulting her, I can certainly agree that he's trying to make her "feel small" as you put it, but if what he has to say is basically "hey baby show me yer tits" then I sincerely doubt thay guy is thinking about anything beyond his own momentary amusement and he almost certainly isn’t thinking about how his words are affecting her feelings.