Why are all women controlled by the threat of male violence, and even if it’s #NotAllMen it’s enough to make all women act differently? A thread 🧵 👇
My 17 yr old niece gets the bus to work, college & the gym. She is young, blonde, pretty & kind. She has become a target…
My 17 yr old niece gets the bus to work, college & the gym. She is young, blonde, pretty & kind. She has become a target…
…for predatory men. From comments, staring, ‘jokes’ & now the inevitable & classic ‘creepy man on bus’. It started as soon as she hit puberty & it’s only getting worse.
The other day a man sat next to her on an otherwise empty bus. This is not a neutral act. It is an act of…
The other day a man sat next to her on an otherwise empty bus. This is not a neutral act. It is an act of…
…dominance & aggression. It is a man trapping a young woman for his own gratification. He demanded her attention. The bus driver did nothing. She was too scared to say anything & the bus driver didn’t seem to notice/care.
She stopped going to the gym & has quit her job…
She stopped going to the gym & has quit her job…
She is now trying to find work that she doesn’t have to take a bus to. She won’t go to the gym unless someone drives her there. Her life has become smaller & she’s only 17.
The men who first started making ‘jokes’ when she hit puberty, who slowed down their cars to stare…
The men who first started making ‘jokes’ when she hit puberty, who slowed down their cars to stare…
…probably think they are the ‘good guys’ - they aren’t creepily trapping her on a bus. But they have created a foundation of anxiety around men & her body. Others may say ‘why didn’t she say anything/get up and move’ etc - she’s 17, scared & knows how angry men can get…
She’s seen it first hand in her past. And we all saw that bus video doing the rounds the other day where a man screamed at a grown woman who did exactly that.
The decisions she makes now in relation to her work & social life will be coloured by this & precious interactions…
The decisions she makes now in relation to her work & social life will be coloured by this & precious interactions…
This is why the threat of male violence is enough to keep all women ‘down’ - to limit their choices, to know their bodies are a battleground & somehow not their own. For years I thought ‘what is it about me that makes this happen’ - I will not let my niece blame herself
FYI - she was flashed by a man on the way to school at 12. This is when the message started for her - that she wasn’t safe because she was female & that men can’t be trusted as you never know who is the flasher and who is the ‘good guy’
#MVAWG #Feminism
#MVAWG #Feminism
*previous interactions, not precious
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