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Path: utzoo!watmath!wateng!jamcmullan
From: jamcmullan@wateng.UUCP (Judy McMullan)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: re: last night
Message-ID: <2463@wateng.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 31-May-85 16:03:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: wateng.2463
Posted: Fri May 31 16:03:36 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Jun-85 00:36:51 EDT
References: <533@usl.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 22

>So, it would seem that I would be one of those men who would be likely to
>excuse the exibitionist, not because I invalidated the woman's feelings, but
>because the event wouldn't seem as serious to me.  I can see only one
>significant difference between the event I just recounted and Ellen's,
>which is that being male, the thought of rape would never enter my mind
>as a possible consequence of such an event, whereas a woman would be much
>quicker to feel herself as attacked, be it only verbal.

That IS the significant difference! You didn't expect the woman exhibitionist
to physically attack you. That is exactly what a woman in that position could
expect. I am constantly amazed at the number of men who fail to understand
this. Women are not afraid of men for no reason. Almost all women have been
at least verbally sexually harrassed by men and most of them have also had
to deal with pinches, slaps, quick "feels", etc. We are all aware that these
are mild compared with what has happened to some, unlucky, women.
Too often these verbal attacks are the prelude to something much worse.

Ellen's original posting didn't make it to this site -- only Joe's reply
quoting it. But it sounds like she was very brave...

   --from the sssstickkky keyboard of JAM
   ...!{ihnp4|clyde|decvax}!watmath!wateng!jamcmullan