shipsare4lvrs:carry-on-my-wayward-butt:Today I wore Short Shorts: An attempted objective observation
shipsare4lvrs:carry-on-my-wayward-butt:Today I wore Short Shorts: An attempted objective observation on rape culture in my own personal immediate environment.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI’ll let you know right now that I say attempted objective observation because I’m a fucking brat and talked back instead of taking the harassment whoops.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWhat I expected: Based on what society tells me, if I wear short shorts, I will be assaulted. I expected to at the very least, be called at.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWhat happened:In the morning, my mother expressed her discontent at the fact that I would be walking around all day in these shorts. To prevent her from making me go back inside and change, I lied and said I was out of clean jeans.On the way into campus I was leered/called at by no less than 3 people, laughed at by 4. One girl remarked “Look at how them thighs touch! mm-mm-mmm. Girl is brave, I could never.”After explaining why I was wearing the shorts to my friends, they were extremely respectful, understanding and supportive. We then had a nice agreeable educational discussion about human rights.It really took off after my last class. I got to the bus stop at 8pm, and two boys approached me. I tried to keep track of it properly facebook and twitter.The Facebook and Twitter accounts I kept at the time(it was 50 degrees i was in shorts forgive the choppy flow):Beginning(Facebook)Beginning(Twitter)Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAt this point my boyfriend’s sister showed up to the gas station behind the bus stop and my experiment was cut short. And the second half of When I got home: I told my mother everything, and she pretty much had a small fit and had Gil(her boyfriend, a big tough guy) teach me how to use a knife(i didn’t tell her I already had one and know how to use it). When she maintained that “men are dogs and [i] need to protect [my]self”, I let her know that she was being sexist and perpetuating rape culture that encourages me to fear the world around me. She said “I don’t fucking care I just want you to be safe, goddammit.” I then drew the conclusion that I should not use my own mother or any other family members as an objective discussion partner.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWhat I learned:Wearing certain clothes will in certain situations sometimes encourage certain people to think that they are justified in behaving certain ways.Never tell your mother that you’re doing a social experiment that banks on the possibility that you might actually be assaulted.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxPersonal Feelings and Conclusions:It is not fair that I am encouraged to believe that no one can be trusted.It is not fair that I am encouraged to fear the darkness or the night or being alone.It is not fair that I am encouraged to believe that males are to be feared.It is not fair that I am encourage to believe that males are rabid wild animals that cannot be controlled, that I am supposed to believe that I need to walk on eggshells to avoid being attacked, or worse, killed.It is not fair that I am forced to choose my clothing based on social dogmas rather than comfort/personal style/protection from the elements.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI look forward to more experiments like this in the future and I welcome any and all questions and concerns. Thank you for reading.Thank you for doing this. -- source link