she_who_dares

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Why not? For any game we've played in, pick one of your chars and one of mine :)

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One of my games is pretty much dying, which makes me sad :( As such, I've broken my no-more-than-three-games-at-once rule and joined aurormods, which is looking pretty good so far. loremipsum is slowing down but still going, but the pace it's going, I might consider looking for one more... anyone have any suggestions?

I saw this blog linked from another site and felt I had to share: How Many Women Find Street Harrassment Flattering?. It's a Tumblr community blog where women (and some men, too, though the stories are predominantly from a female perspective) share incidents of being cat called. Some didn't realise that what happened to them counts as sexual harrassment, some didn't realise how widespread a problem it was, but the idea behind it is to make people realise that when cat-calling makes someone feel uncomfortable, unhappy or unsafe in their own skin, IT IS NOT OKAY.

I've been called fat in the street before. I've been told I'm ugly. I've had people call me a bitch/whore/slag because I was not responsive to their unwanted attention. I've had men of all ages and backgrounds *in* all places and spaces grope me or stare at my body. I remember at university feeling unsafe in my residence hall because of someone who kept harrassing me to go out with him. I've been judged on the basis of my clothing resulting in things such as the above - in fact, I've lost count of the number of times that has happened.

Reading the stories in the blog upset me at first - and in fact, I was ignoring poor Nat on MSN for a while because I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I recognised myself in so many of the stories posted on there. But then I stopped and remembered times where I had the guts to stand up for myself and remind the arseholes who abuse others in public that MY BODY IS FOR ME, and I am the only person who is allowed to claim it as their own. Guys who hurled abuse about me across the street? I gave them the finger and carried on walking (they were surprised that a girl on her own would have the confidence to do so). Guy who groped my arse in a bar? I turned round so fast with such a look on my face that his friend quickly dragged him away before I smacked him.

Reading that blog did upset me, it did make me cry, but dammit I feel a lot stronger having done so. And that is why this is one of the few posts I will be making public to my IJ.