Yesterday I started to see a number of my (female) friends post the "Me Too" meme on Facebook.
This is the one that says "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me, too.' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."
I originally wasn't going to do so, because it's not like I've been 'really' assaulted.
No more than what any woman has to face.
And then I realized...that's kind of the point. I don't consider myself sexually harassed or assaulted, because I've never had a boss pressure me for sex or something that was 'obviously' sexual harassment.
Having someone grab my butt while I was at an ATM in London twenty years ago doesn't count, right? I mean, I've had that happen once or twice at a crowded bar, but that's really nothing. I'm bringing up the ATM one because having it happen out in a public street like that was really rather shocking. Who does that?!?
And of course I'm not going to get all worked up about boys catcalling from cars...they're just young idiots.
And having someone tell me that a colleague at airborne school wanted to, well... I won't repeat that. Suffice to say I made it a point not to get anywhere near the guy after that.
And okay, I remember back in college when my roommate and I threw a party once. At the end, a (male) friend of hers was going to crash on our couch...and he and I were trying to get one last guest to leave. That guest was asleep in a chair, and wouldn't wake up no matter how much we tried.
So I headed to bed, but something just didn't seem right...and I was still awake a little bit later when someone opened the door to my bedroom. I sat straight up and said something, I don't really recall what...got some sort of mumbled response and he left. I went out, saw he'd left...and locked the door.
Actually, I kind of had the shakes after that, thinking of what could have happened. Might have happened. Had he been faking he was asleep, just to be in the apartment after everyone had gone?
But no...I've been really lucky in my life. Never really had a boss pressure me inappropriately (though I think that's partly because I somehow intimidated one...I've never really understood why some guys find me intimidating, but if it meant I didn't have to deal with the crap that boss put another colleague of mine through then I guess I'll take it. The way he acted towards her, though...well that's pretty much why I left Afghanistan when I did.)
So no, nothing really out of the ordinary here. Nothing that's got me traumatized, nothing like a Harvey Weinstein. Not for me, personally. Just your normal, typical, stuff that any woman has to deal with.
Which was kind of the point of the meme, so I guess I'll just say - "Me, too."
This is the one that says "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me, too.' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."
I originally wasn't going to do so, because it's not like I've been 'really' assaulted.
No more than what any woman has to face.
And then I realized...that's kind of the point. I don't consider myself sexually harassed or assaulted, because I've never had a boss pressure me for sex or something that was 'obviously' sexual harassment.
Having someone grab my butt while I was at an ATM in London twenty years ago doesn't count, right? I mean, I've had that happen once or twice at a crowded bar, but that's really nothing. I'm bringing up the ATM one because having it happen out in a public street like that was really rather shocking. Who does that?!?
And of course I'm not going to get all worked up about boys catcalling from cars...they're just young idiots.
And having someone tell me that a colleague at airborne school wanted to, well... I won't repeat that. Suffice to say I made it a point not to get anywhere near the guy after that.
And okay, I remember back in college when my roommate and I threw a party once. At the end, a (male) friend of hers was going to crash on our couch...and he and I were trying to get one last guest to leave. That guest was asleep in a chair, and wouldn't wake up no matter how much we tried.
So I headed to bed, but something just didn't seem right...and I was still awake a little bit later when someone opened the door to my bedroom. I sat straight up and said something, I don't really recall what...got some sort of mumbled response and he left. I went out, saw he'd left...and locked the door.
Actually, I kind of had the shakes after that, thinking of what could have happened. Might have happened. Had he been faking he was asleep, just to be in the apartment after everyone had gone?
But no...I've been really lucky in my life. Never really had a boss pressure me inappropriately (though I think that's partly because I somehow intimidated one...I've never really understood why some guys find me intimidating, but if it meant I didn't have to deal with the crap that boss put another colleague of mine through then I guess I'll take it. The way he acted towards her, though...well that's pretty much why I left Afghanistan when I did.)
So no, nothing really out of the ordinary here. Nothing that's got me traumatized, nothing like a Harvey Weinstein. Not for me, personally. Just your normal, typical, stuff that any woman has to deal with.
Which was kind of the point of the meme, so I guess I'll just say - "Me, too."
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