All Cis Men Need To Read This, Right Now








1. Why might women respond differently to an unexpected touch than men?

2. What might be the reason why women would see things as sexual assault that you consider innocuous?

3. Why is advising a woman to get a man or police officer to tell a persistent man to back off problematic? Why do you think it’s okay to send the message that a woman must have an authority figure tell men to desist rather than sending the message to men that they need to respect women’s boundaries and requests without requiring intervention from a second party to do so?

4. Would it be okay for me to use force to make you fix my car? What if you’re wearing overalls – is it okay for me to force you then? But if you were intending to work on your friend’s car and were on your way to do it, I could totally make you stop and fix mine instead, right? I could grab you and shove you down under the car and that would be okay, right? No? Then why do you think the way a woman is dressed has any bearing on how men are allowed to treat her?

5. Is it really so fucking hard for men to accept the fact that some people may not respond the same way to touch that they do? Is it really a huge problem to err on the side of not freaking out a stranger and find some way other than touch to get their attention if necessary?

6. Why do you think Carlos and men like him find it so necessary to transgress stated boundaries?

If you can’t think of answers to those questions, shut up and listen to women. 99 out of 100 of them can tell you, if you let them.

I don’t actually care if you agree with Carlos or not. Changing your mind takes time and may never happen. I just want men to stop behaving like him.

And I’d love for you dudes to take some responsibility for the Carloses in your lives. Tell them it’s not okay to talk over women. Tell them it’s not okay for them to decide what is and isn’t appropriate when it comes to touching women. Tell them to listen to women when we’re telling them what we need. Tell them the world won’t fucking end if they err on the side of not touching women they’ve never met. Tell them that requiring a male authority before they’ll leave a woman alone is fucking wrong. Tell them that IT IS NEVER EVER OKAY TO USE A WOMAN’S CLOTHING AS AN EXCUSE TO ASSAULT HER. And tell them it’s never okay to use her clothing or even lack thereof to blame her for some jackass assaulting her.

That’ll do for a start.

Here are some resources to get you going.

Geek Feminism Wiki: Rape culture

Shakesville: Rape Culture 101

Everyday Feminism: 25 Everyday Examples of Rape Culture

Men Can Stop Rape

Image shows a protest sign. The letters spelled out Don't Get Raped. Get and D are in black and have been crossed out. Don't Rape is in red.
Changing the messages of rape culture. Image courtesy Richard Potts (CC BY 2.0)
All Cis Men Need To Read This, Right Now

One thought on “All Cis Men Need To Read This, Right Now

  1. 1

    I feel like pointing out that pick up artists and other predators deliberately use escalating physical contact as a way to push boundaries, hiding behind the plausible denial of “Oh, it was totally innocent, why are you being so mean”. This kind of bullshit just gives them more room to operate.

    Rape culture isn’t a product of rapists. It’s a product of all the people willing to excuse it. So let’s not.

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