1... #silverstrand #beach #galway has been my go-to place this past decade; offering me much needed solace since March, swimming almost everyday, to clear the head, disconnect, recharge. Yesterday evening, changing in the Galway style, under your towel, discreetly...
2... respecting fellow swimmers, I noticed a 40something man intently watching 2x20ish women changing. Only four of us were under the shelter, though the area was busy w/ swimmers&walkers. “Hey, maybe you could stop watching the young women changing and just look straight ahead”
3.. I say, after few moments of watching him watch them. He does. For a minute. Then reverts to watching them. Obviously. Not the odd glance. “Hey, we do our best here to change modestly, mind our own business, could you stop watching those young women changing?” I say.
4... The women grab up their things and move to their nearby car. Nearly done, I gather up my gear to move out to a bench, away from him and nearer to other people. He follows. In a voice full of rage, he belligerently asks if I am a cop. When I don’t respond he asks again.
5.. No. Just a concerned person, I reply. He continues then to call me all sorts of names, mostly a fat fucking cunt, over and over, as he walks past me and towards the road. Oh and he dropped his pants to show me his ass! It is nearly laughable, if the next piece did not occur.
6.. As he starts up the road, he slows down and waves at me. Each time I glance over, he waves. He is not rushing up that quiet road, but taking his time. I have to walk up that road too. I didn’t drive down as most others seem to have done, the walk being part of my ritual.
7... I’ll need to go up that road where he may be waiting, far enough away from the busy seafront, where the trees begin. So a phone call is made “Can you pick me up – I don’t feel safe”. Before I go I check in on my fellow swimmers, still in their car.
8...They are grateful for my intervention. Offer me a lift. I encourage them not to stop swimming, saying, I've never seen him here before, this is a very rare occurrence, most swimmers are sound. But I already know this will affect my swimming habits.
9... Will I venture down on my own? Will I walk? If I do I'll be looking over my shoulder. Wondering. It’s probably safer to drive. Or at least bring a swim buddy.
10...And that is how men rob women of their freedom. Through their anger, encroachment, their #gaze and #intimidation. Their expectations of #entitlement. Their #rage at being challenged. @emrazz @AllisonRFloyd @NWCI
