Men face sexual harassment on the regular as well as women. We often tend to neglect the perils men face, due to the fact that most of the time men have been the guilty party in these situations, but that doesn't negate the times when they too fall victim to a harasser. We all, as an entire race, need to learn how to do better in these scenarios.
Redditor u/chutiyamadarchod wanted the men out there to speak up about the trials they face by asking... Men, what kind of low grade sexual harassment do you face on a daily basis?Men harassing men and women harassing men is a real issue. It's not okay to ask men about their underwear that day or the size of... you know... and vice versa.
Hands off the Kilt
Sam Heughan Starz GIF by Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham
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Worked in bars and would constantly be groped by older women who thought it was funny.
Also, as a Scottish piper, kilt-lifting is a thing and honestly it needs to stop, grow up.
The Bulge
My "bulge" was a topic of open discussion between some of the women in the office at a previous job. The kicker is that one of the women was our HR and Sexual Assault/Harassment Reporter.
In my experience those middle aged women at the offices can be DOGS. The most inappropriate crap I've seen, heard, or experienced comes from those weird 50 year old "wine mommy" types. It's gross.
Beach Days
Not really low grade but when I used to work as a lifeguard on the beach there was lots of non-consensual touching. The two that really stick out are the middle aged woman who walked up to me like she had a question about my penis through my trunks because she "wanted to know how big it was" and the girl who backed me into my stand and shoved a skittle into my mouth with her tongue.
True
A female coworker I tell her if she was male, she would have been fired multiple times for her behavior. She just laughs and says "ya probably".
That's terrible. Sometimes I think people legitimately don't realise their behaviour is unacceptable, but the fact that she's been given the opportunity to apologise and just admitted her behaviour was wrong and not take it seriously is terrible.
Poor Unfortunate Soul
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My 55 year old coworker somewhat resembles Ursula from the little mermaid. That hasn't stopped her from asking me if I think she's pretty, asking me to take her home, and telling me she "sprays like a watering can" (yes, really...)
Edit: I should add that I'm 21, which I think makes it a LOT weirder.
That was all that a bit much. Show of hands... who found any of that appropriate? To be clear... nobody should be showing a hand. Men should also be able to wear what they want without issue. Let's see who else is having problems understanding boundaries.
While Shirtless
Not daily, but as a Cosplayer who does shirtless characters (Ace, Grimmjow, Bahn) I get groped a lot... chest and arms mostly, also my butt gets slapped/squeezed and crotch grabs are often enough to mention too.
Hell even when I'm armored they find a way to "get to me"
Inclusive Issues
I have been referred to HR for my voice being naturally too low. I was told I need to try and do more to be inclusive at the chat with HR about it.
"I feel like I'm being singled out in the workplace." These are magic words to HR. It's just the nice way of saying "you're about to be sued for running a hostile work environment."
Where's Linda?
My first job out of college. It was a home health company that was 97% women. I had to cover for the receptionist during her lunch break and would have to deal with nurses calling in all the time. I would get comments as soon as I answered the phone "they have a man answering the phone now" or "this is home health right?!? Where's Linda?"
Also had several complaints too. I had my manager ask me to not use such a low and intimidating voice and try and sound more happy. This was an HR position and I was given the equivalent of perk up buttercup.
Stalker
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One day I got a text message from someone I didn't know, asking me to meet for dinner.
I had gone to a new hair cut place a few days earlier. One of the hair dressers (not the one who cut my hair) had seen me and decided it made sense to look up my phone number from the client records and ask me out. I had no idea who this was, it was so weird. I got several more messages from her before she stopped messaging me. Never went back to that hair place.
Jiggle
I recently became a father and was working on a hit tv series. A female producer who is best friends with the executive in charge thought it would be funny to grab my stomach and say "working on your dad bod already?" My daughter at that point was 1 week old. If I grabbed a woman's stomach and said she was fat or pregnant I would have been fired. Well, I complained to make a point. She recently was promoted and I wasn't invited back after 5 seasons.
The Rubs
I was walking down town with a friend when two drunk girls came out of a bar, and one of them just walked up to me and shoved her hands up my shirt and started rubbing my chest.
She was yelling to her friend 'This is what a real man feels like!'.
My friend was laughing his butt off, and her friend was explaining this was 'breakup therapy', because she'd been dumped and she was in the process of accepting there are better men out there.
I laughed it off and took it as a compliment, but imagining the gender roles reversed always stuck with me.
Gross
My family owns a restaurant and I would help out doing the dishes and operating front of house. My mum mainly hired female waitresses for some reason and I overheard things like "he's cute I wonder what it's like to ride Asian guys" and one time, one of the girls finished their shift and I was brushing the floor near entrance, she came up to me and grabbed my "area" with a lip bite. I was really uncomfortable as I had a girlfriend at the time.
I stalked them on social media for a bit and I found out they were really into kpop and one of them had a history of dating Asian guys.
They eventually quit as they had A levels to prepare for (equivalent to AP) and because I live in a small town, I bump into them a lot meaning they stare whenever I walk past them.
Ok?
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Got my junk grabbed and pinched once when I was in a public transport by an older, homeless looking women. Everyone saw what happened and didn't do nothing. I was in shocked and didn't know what to do so I just pretended nothing happened.
SUPER upset...
A woman who was celebrating her 21st birthday did the same to me at the bar. I left the bar to go home and she was outside crying, obviously sloppy drunk. She had been dancing with a bunch of dudes which made her insecure boyfriend SUPER upset. I had no idea what the situation was, so I walked up and asked if if they needed anything. She looked straight up at me and grabbed my area. Hard. I backed away, obviously shocked, and she tried it again.
Then the boyfriend started screaming "DO YOU WANT ME TO KICK HISS A**?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT???" and she sobbed even harder. I was so confused by everything, I threw my hands up, said "Good luck with that," and bounced. There were people all around but no one seemed pissed when she grabbed me. Most were laughing.
Call a Bouncer
Getting physically and verbally assaulted by women in nightclubs and then being asked to leave because of it. Even with multiple people trying to tell bouncers what was actually happening they'll always just pick you to throw out.
That's unfortunately an economics thing more than anything else. Women in a club attract men, men who buy drinks and throw cash around thinking they'll get laid. A club full of men does not attract women tossing around cash.
Animals
My MIL assumes that men have this complete inability to control themselves and it is 100% up to women to not pursue attached men. I was not aware of this until there was a debate going on about such things at a family function when she ask me, the only non old male at the event, to confirm her belief. The implication that men are practically wild animals and unable to control themselves is pretty insulting.
Scooter Lady
I was in the store and an old woman on a mobility scooter wanted to pass me so i stepped to the side against the shelf. Instead of using all the free space on the other side she starts turning closer to me as she passes so my area rubs all across her shoulder, she did a weird moaning sound at the same time.
I posted about this on Facebook at the time and almost everyone thought it was hilarious.
Tickles
I was also going to mention the man boob comment.
But used to be all the time drunk women or men would run their fingers through my beard and have some sly comment like, "I wonder if this tickles".
If any of this is unclear please continue reading. Maybe it'll shed further light. And learn the difference between a compliment and harassment. We need to put ourselves in each other's shoes. And act accordingly...
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The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
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"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
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"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
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"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
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"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
