WIBU to have slapped his face?

[BMW6]

This afternoon a man (mid fifties) in the street said to me "excuse me darlin' but can I tell you you've got really impressive tits"

Without any thought I slapped his face and gave him a raging dressing down - he just stood there stunned looking and mumbled "sorry darlin'" (which enraged me all the more)

I am conflicted - part of me is horrified that I reacted violently, the other part is still fuming and kind of glad I slapped him.

Did I over-react?

but also

If these tossers thought they might get tasered they might think twice, so a slap is a step in the right direction.

Of course you were wrong to physically assault him. I get why you did - they aren't getting the message by us ignoring them and scuttling along, are they? I am guessing that "who the fuck do you think you are?" came into your rant?

Well played

Good on you. That's all he'd probably understand. Might save him from doing it to someone else.

Most pp are nuts. He deserved it. However, from the POV of the law, you did assault him, so try to rein that impulse in next time

Although he totally deserved it. Sexual harassment is not ok.

gosh, this is a tough one! I sort of feel that you would be fine to scream abuse at someone who did that but actually slapping him, he could justifiably report you for assault.

then again, I am quite glad you did it and quite glad that your automatic reaction was to do that. I feel as if he will learn a valuable lesson. it's a bit of a "Suffragette" moment - if violence is the only language he will understand....

Hell slap it up him! I wouldn't normally condon violence but how many women has he humiliated over the years and got away with it? How many women have went home feeling upset or possibly threatened by his comment? Maybe he'll think twice next time.

and it seems so much more effective than shouting....actually I'm climbing down off the fence. YANBU.

YWNBU. At all. I'd have done (and have done) exactly the same.

Maybe next time he'll think before harassing a stranger. I hope his miniscule cock develops rot and falls off.

Yes you were wrong to slap him, although believe me I can understand why you did it.

But my mind is rather blown by the poster saying that they almost feel sorry for him because they can imagine him thinking he was paying you a compliment No man honestly thinks that is a compliment surely? It is a comment designed to make a woman feel uncomfortable, not to compliment her. Because the men who say it know exactly what they're doing and that they can turn it round exactly like that and say 'women can't even accept a compliment without getting angry'.

Hold on, you don't have to wait until you are physically touched to claim self defense in this country, you can prevent an attack before actually been knocked out. Honestly, you don't have to receive the first punch!

OP, slapping him does sound a bit much, but it's very easy to judge when you are calmly and safely sitting in the safety of your own home. He shouldn't have started in the first place. I have no idea how old you are, but do people think it's acceptable to say that to a grown up woman? what about a teenager (some look much older than they are), some are nearly children? Not acceptable then?

What about a vulnerable woman?

I think the main reason NOT to slap him would be that it can put you in danger yourself. A reasonable-ish guy will let it go, a proper weirdo might hurt you back. So be careful.

Having horrible men in the street making remarks of this nature can be really upsetting and feel quite threatening, but assaulting someone because they're rude and obnoxious is completely OTT.

Had he touched you in any way it would have been different but you can't go around slapping people because of offensive remarks; that's just as unacceptable as his behaviour.

Well lets hope all the drunken women on hen nights in my local town, don't get a slap in the face from the blokes they shout sexual comments to in the street.

Lets also hope if it does happen, the blokes don't start threads here expecting a pat on the back for it.

I could imagine a different response completely if they did.

I was going to say that if the genders were reversed then the responses would be very different.

But I didn't want to be that poster.

You're very lucky he didn't hit you back. I slapped a guy across the face once outside a nightclub, as he'd made a very lewd comment at me. He gave me a big slap in the face back and sent me flying. I'd never do that again.

Anyway, why are you still chewing it over? It's finished.

And yes I have had sexual comments aimed at me from women, a death stare and a 'fuck off' was sufficient.

I couldn't give a shiny shite MrRobot

It's the 'Please pat me on the back' element of this thread that I find even more distasteful.

X posted

I was of course replying to MrRobot's 'That poster' comment

You were lucky you didn't slap someone who is likely to hit back.

I do agree Worra, the OP seems proud about the fact that she's physically assaulted someone.

And if he slapped you back BMW then it should have been ok then?

MrsJaneDoe, I'm now wondering how the law would see it. Responding to verbal assault with physical assault...presumably the law would say the person doing the slapping was provoked?

I think women shouting obscene things at men probably would benefit from a slap as well. Who the hell thinks it's okay to behave this way - and is a slap the only way to get them to understand? (actually they still won't understand but it might be a deterrent?)

men like that make my skin crawl.

However you resorted to physical violence because you were pissed off. If a man had done that to a woman in the street because she had pissed him off? Well, I suspect a man would be in prison this evening rather than navel gazing about it on mumsnet.

Oh please. The typical "offended woman slap" can hardly be counted as assault. Insult, more like. Now, if she had broken his nose, that'd be different.

The legal situation be as it may, I think you did every woman in that area a favour by slapping that man.