Women have just started to feel safe speaking out against the wrongs that they face, but they are still met with several criticisms. Dress codes, rape, and sexism are issues that women are supposedly just being overly dramatic about. Most, if not all, of these criticisms come from men.
This leaves women wondering why men cannot understand these issues, but the answer is quite simple. Men just don’t know about what women have gone through, and what they experience every day.
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Women have been trained their entire lives to avoid situations that men would confront. Sometimes they don’t even realize that is what they are doing. They steer clear of angering men, pretend not to be bothered by sexist jokes, and shrug off offensive comments. If women don’t do this then they could become a target, or be referred to as a bitch.
Men probably don’t realize stuff like this happens, because many women don’t talk about it. It is something they experience so frequently that talking about it seems trivial and useless.
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Thirteen year old girls have to deal with grown men ogling their breasts.
Teenage cashiers are hit on by men who could be their dad.
Young students are harassed with hostile texts after they refuse to go out with a boy from class.
Women in the work force have to accept that their boss will always grope their ass while walking by.
All of these situations are shrugged off with plastered on smiles, and men don’t realize that. They have no idea that women deal with these things so much that it is a part of their routine. If women didn’t minimize these events then their days would be an endless stream of confrontations.
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When a situation arises, they must quickly determine the best reaction. In a matter of seconds they need to decide if this man is dangerous or not. Sometimes he may not be, but they don’t have time to think that long.
It happens all the time to friends, or coworkers. A man who cornered a woman seemed harmless because he was just drunk, but then he’s going to court for rape. Those are the moments that women realize this shouldn’t be okay. The reality of being a woman is rough.
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They pretend that sexist comment didn’t bother them, and then feel guilty for not standing up for themselves. They need some kind of weapons to feel safe walking alone at night, and know that men won’t back off unless they say they have a boyfriend. Then they don’t tell anyone because it’s normal for them. It happens every day, why talk about it?
Men don’t know about this routine that women play through. They see it happen, or hear about it, but have no idea how much it actually occurs. The only way that men can become more aware is to listen. They need to watch how women interact with a hostile man, and pay attention when a woman is telling them about being harassed at work. Men can’t understand if they don’t listen, and they can’t listen if women don’t tell them.
