Sexual harassment

[Usho]

Unfortunately you probably shouldn't have mentioned this.

Female being sexually harassed, people will defend her (and rightly so). Male being sexually harassed however, very few people will care or take it seriously.

A lot of the posts are a classic "victims fault".

Females can harass males too, and most of the time it doesn't have to be sexual. On one hand, females being harassed is very real and should be taken seriously but on the other hand, females can play the "victim card" and falsely accuse a male of harassing them and 9/10 people will believe the female over the male cause of culture norms. But of course, most stories about males being harassed by females will go unreported or unnoticed by the public cause it isn't news worthy, or like you said, no one would care or take them seriously, especially in the #MeToo era.



Even innocent males can be subject to females harassing or threatening them. Like if a female tried to seduce a male and the male wasn't interested in her, the female could play the "female in distress card" and falsely accuse the male of sexual harassment, even if it's false, the male would be accused of a crime he didn't commit and his life would be over.


Females have their innate "get out of jail free card" for these types of things. I'm not shaming females, cause I know sexual harassment can and does happen, but as a male myself, I can point out the double standards and culture norms about these issues.


/2 cents

[Lunaxia]

/2 cents

No, we don't have a "get out of jail free card", and it's exasperating that every single issue that affects women inevitably ends up being swerved into a "but it happens to men too!!!" discussion. Yes, it does, but that doesn't make this problem any less of a problem, or less worthy of discussion.

Nor are women are "automatically" believed. Look at the media. Look at the Bill Cosby case. Look at the PC gamer article mentioned. Look at the rhetoric surrounding assault. Women have been frequently dismissed, scorned, even blamed for what has happened to them; called liars, manipulators, dramatic, bitter, jealous, said to be looking for drama, looking for money, accused of "leading men on", and "ruining reputations." It is far from a foregone conclusion that the woman is right, or even believed. That's what the very existence of #MeToo is all about. All the women who had been abused and harassed were effectively silenced because they were told no one would believe them or take them seriously, and their careers would be over. #MeToo is about finally letting these women speak out, about ending decades long corruption in the media industry and bringing to justice those who had got away with it for so long. It is not a women-only movement designed to cast poor, innocent men in a bad light - there have even been men who have added their own stories to it.

I don't have a problem with talking about men being on the receiving end of harassment, but what annoys me is that most of the time the men who bring it up don't actually have any intention or desire to do so. It's only ever used to detract from or silence the topic of female harassment.