Ladies - Receiving Unwanted "Attention"

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  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
    Rosemary7391 wrote: »
    7elizamae wrote: »
    Rosemary7391 wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure it isn't legal to carry pepper spray in the UK - classed as a firearm? And really, I wouldn't want to.

    Wow. I did not know that. I'm a big fan of all things British, but boy am I glad to live in the USA if it isn't legal to carry pepper spray in the UK.
    I'd call a canister of pepper spray a minimum level of self defense. Why would it be illegal? It's not lethal, like a gun can be...

    I wouldn't want to live somewhere where I needed to carry a weapon for a "minimum level of self defense" ! Seriously, that seems terrible. How often have you had to use it?

    We'll put it this way: I didn't have it when I needed it.
    I also don't want to live somewhere where I need to carry a weapon, but I found out you never know what might happen or when.
  • laurabadams
    laurabadams Posts: 201 Member
    I wanted to share this link after reading through this thread. It's an oldie, but a goodie. In particular, there's a story in the comment section that I think illustrates how differently men and women perceive these situations. The comment is by a commenter named elodieunderglass . It's quite far down in the comment section. It's a long comment/story, otherwise I'd copy and paste here. Truly, it's worth the read.


    https://captainawkward.com/2012/08/07/322-323-my-friend-group-has-a-case-of-the-creepy-dude-how-do-we-clear-that-up/
  • wishiwasarunner
    wishiwasarunner Posts: 202 Member
    Strong_Savannah wrote: »
    becky10rp wrote: »
    Check out this article printed in Runner's World a few months ago: https://www.runnersworld.com/running-while-female It's a good read, and very accurate. A lot of men don't even realize the harassment/abuse women get while running - which amazes me. I've had a few encounters as well. I don't appreciate it. Crazy you have to worry about your personal safety when you just want to get a run in.

    Thanks for sharing that article!
    “The real center of attention is a man’s relationship with other men,” he says. Men and boys want to look cool, be funny, or find validation and acceptance from other men. Society teaches that to be a man, you must be powerful, aggressive, and dominant, and some men apply that to how they treat women on the street."
    ^^I've never realized this before. It almost always comes from a guy who has at least one friend with him. I think it'll help me to remember that it has nothing to do with me necessarily, just guys trying to show off to their friends and be dickheads.


    I agree that it has much less to do with you than it does to do with them! I have been on the receiving end of comments and even one guy who got out of his truck and started approaching me on a run and I am much older. I have had it happen when it was 10 degrees outside and if it wasn't for the pink bandana I had covering my face I don't even know how they would have known I was female given my layers. Certainly, there was no uncovered skin for them to take in my expression which would have somehow marked me as a weak sheep.

    Anyway, I was responding though that the article about guys showing off to their friends certainly directs a possible solution - at least to many of the nondangerous ones (the ones that really mean to do you harm don't usually fall into this category). My son recently mentioned a "friend" from school calling a waitress named Kat - Kitty Kat while he was out with several guys. Those guys were embarrassed and while I don't know that at 16 they managed to apologize to the waitress for him - they did refuse to take the guy anywhere with them again. If other men would just start saying that the behavior is wrong, this would improve.
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