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In reply to the discussion: If the HUNDREDS of men who sexually harrassed me got locked up, they would need 48576 jails [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,069 posts)Fortunately, my harassers don't include my employers.
But I've been physically and verbally harassed since I was around 10 (the first time by an older male coaching me in diving, within sight of my parents who were unaware anything was going on). Then my brother who snuck in my room at night, fondled and undressed me. Then by several middle school and high school classmates. Then in college I was raped by a stranger - who started by making cat-calls on the street. Then raped again by a college classmate. Somwhere around that time, I stopped keeping track.
It is, unfortunately, just the background "noise" women learn to live with - I expect not incredibly different from the constant racist "noise" non-whites learn to live with.
It is incredibly draining - and has has a negative impact on my health. For decades I carried between 10 and 80 extra pounds because (unconsciously) that fat made me more invisible and less likely to be harassed. Now that I am aware of the connection (a sudden realization one day in a skinnier time when I was pawing through my closet looking for something to make me look fat), I still fight the habits that protected me through much of my adult life.
I may have to step back from DU until this blows over - or at least figure out how to avoid the Cuomo threads. The posts suggesting that women ask for it, or that it is appropriate to sacrifice us for the sake of the party are a bit much to tolerate.