In a January episode of her Women of the Hour podcast, Lena Dunham, 31, was in conversation with author Mary Karr when they discussed this very phenomenon. And it seems it might be a right of passage for females approaching a certain age. Now, in my late 20s, I’m less of a “good girl” and more of a “nasty woman” becoming more and more incapable of pretending to smile when a man does something slimy. And it’s this obsession with “being nice” that is getting good girls into bad trouble. Why? Because of our cultural obsession with raising girls to be “good.” Socialized this wayįrom birth, we are told not to be rude, or bossy, or difficult and above all, not to be a bitch. The train doors opened and I rushed out onto the platform without looking back. I made no attempt to attract attention, I had no desire to make a fuss. Perhaps more shocking was the fact that I did nothing. Not so fun fact: Australia has some of the highest rates of reported sexual assault in the world, according to the United Nations, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 1 in 5 women in Australia will experience sexual assault at some time in their life.įor me, it happened on a train in broad daylight where a stranger forced his hand up my skirt and grabbed at my “p-y,” as one world leader might say. I should point out that the recent driving incident happened in America but casual sexual harassment is a global problem that I personally have experienced in every country I’ve been to, and some of the worst of it at home in Australia. And I’m not being dramatic when I say that this kind of entitled, predatory attitude towards women escalates to more serious things like rape. I’m fully aware Creepy Driver Man (CDM) did not murder anyone in this scenario, but he is guilty of sexually harassing a complete stranger and that’s not okay. And what annoys me further is that I know many people reading this are going to roll their eyes and think I should get over it rather than chastise him. No, what makes my blood boil is the thought that this guy has managed to get to about 40 years of age and has likely spent a lot of that time being a creep. It’s been a few days since this disturbing incident but I can’t let the rage go - and not just because of his dangerous driving. Of course, he did it a few times just to be sure I had seen what he was trying to say, then, he sped off. Cupping his chest he was using the universal sign for breasts, and then following that up with a thumbs up. Next minute, with aggressive hand gestures, I immediately understood his message. I was worried: “Are my lights on? Is fluid spilling out of my car? What the hell is he trying to tell me?” As his car pulled in line to me, I looked at him - a middle-aged guy with glasses and a goatee. We were driving fast and this driver seemed desperate for me to notice him. The other day I was driving on a busy freeway when I noticed a car near me trying to get my attention.
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