New blogpost:
"Not All Men"
Sorry, a bit of a ranty one, in the context of recent/current news in the UK.
It does mention sexual assault, but the focus is on men.
Not All Men
Discussion
New blogpost:
"Not All Men"
Sorry, a bit of a ranty one, in the context of recent/current news in the UK.
It does mention sexual assault, but the focus is on men.
Not All Men
@neil Thanks Neil. Good post and it is very helpful to see it from a man.
I think men need to call in other men at all levels from shutting down shitty jokes through to having a quiet word with someone who is making women uncomfortable. Be the man who says "I am happy to call other men in if you like" and be willing to share resources and encourage other men to be and behave better.
Where someone clearly continues with creepiness regardless of intervention; are they worth talking to?
@neil you make a point here that touches with my awful experience of sexual assault as a child. For a long time afterwards I did not trust any man.
Obviously, not that every man posed imminent danger to me, but I could no longer interpret how a man would look at me. Every time a man looked at me in the street, I wanted to fold myself up, so he couldn't see the parts of me that made me woman-ish.
It was not the fault of those men, but I could no longer process what might constitute danger.
@GoingDownWithSundial Yes. And how horrible :(
May I boost that, please?
@neil of course.
It's terrible how some shitty person can, in just a few minutes, change a person's sense of self so fundamentally that the effects last for years.
(Two different posts - that was from mine, whereas @fishidwardrobe was talking about a different post.)
@sijmen Fantastic, isn't it!
And have you heard Rachel Parris sing?
I've heard that comedians often have to work harder than men comedians, and wow I can believe that that is true - she sung on one (perhaps more) of the recordings of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue", and it was just *epic*.
YouTube
@neil This, although I have just muted someone for a long blog post saying that statistics show that it's literally every man literally offering violence to women, even gay men? OP looked male to me -- no pronouns in bio -- so I assume they were including themselves?
Lots of confused thinking about this, I think. Not your post, though.
I can't speak to a piece that I have not read, but if is around *fear* of violence / offering violence, then I could see the angle.
@neil wouldn't ask you to.
it seemed to me to be conflating trying to persuade women into sex with sexual violence. i'm not comfortable with the former, but (a) i really doubt that every man does that, and (b) in my mind it's very different from the latter.
it was all rather confusing.
[Same caveat about not having read the piece.]
I've definitely read some literature that equates sex with violence, and pornography with rape. So views of that nature would not be entirely surprising.
I can also see how one might readily argue that "pick up artistry", and other such revolting, predatory behaviour is a form of sexual assault.
Caveat: I too have not read the referred to material.
I think one issue is that Pick Up Artistry and predatory behaviour doesn't start with rape and obvious violence. Creeps and abusers start small. They push boundaries and watch their audience carefully to see who reacts in 'vulnerable seeming' ways. They are often very charming but will chop and change behaviour. They'll pick someone they perceive to have lower self-esteem or less likely to fight back.
@NatalyaD @neil well, for reference, here is his blog post. obviously don't badger the guy if you think he's wrong (or me, if you think he's right).
i woudn't normally do this because it's a bit too close to "look at this idiot" for my taste.
https://www.qasimrashid.com/p/russell-brand-rape-and-not-all-men
I must admit that I don't read that post in the way that you do!
@neil one guy at work was ranting about this, "Not all men are rapey bastards!", and I had to point out that, actually, not all men are safe for women to be around, and in fact it is just about impossible to prove that a man is safe to be around - just because you haven't done something yet doesnt mean you won't in 5 minutes¹.
In many ways, its easier if men are known to be abusers - ive seen support networks spring up to keep certain men away from women - but its certainly more dangerous if a particular man is thought to be safe, if he suddenly turns out to be something else.
All we can do is lead by example, and call out any bad behaviour
¹And yes, im including myself in this - I know im not like that, but no woman can be sure of that.