Thread by @monaeltahawy

“I was 8 the first time a grown man treated me to the sight of his penis.”
“I am sorry to hear that. I was 4.”
“Can't remember if I was 6 or 8. But that sounds about on par.”

- A woman in Australia
- A woman in Egypt
- A woman in the US
#FuckThePatriarchy across all time zones and all universes.

- “I was 8 the first time a grown man treated me to the sight of his penis.” (#Australia)
- “I am sorry to hear that. I was 4.” (#Egypt)
- “Can't remember if I was 6 or 8. But that sounds about on par.” (#USA)

(cw: child sex abuse) One day when I was four years old, a man stopped his car on the street under my family’s balcony, pulled his penis out of his pants and beckoned for me to come down. google.com/amp/s/www.nbcn…

When I included that incident in an essay I published (in Arabic, in an Egyptian paper) about the many times I’ve been sexually assaulted by men, a man emailed to ask me “What was so special about you at four that anyone would expose themselves to you?”

If I were to use paint to mark which parts of my body have ever been groped, pinched, or otherwise touched without my consent, my entire torso, back and front would be covered. But I am enraged the most at that man who exposed himself to me and my friend. #HowOldWereYou