I think the golden rule for men should be...

[brasty]

.

A man said that

Ah right, missed that. We should all just treat each other like human beings. Men and women should talk to each other. Just not harrass of course. Then all's good.

Can I just say I love fashion. And football.

OP that's ace

Yay kryten

Amen to that

Actually it would be a good thing if men just didn't talk to or approach women they do not know, outside of a social situation where people are expected and expecting to mingle. If you are a man and you see a woman walking down the street/riding public transport/eating in a restaurant or cafe while reading/browsing a shop window, unless you would say exactly the same thing to a man, or a group, or a couple (eg, excuse me, which way is the station/excuse me, do you know what time it is/excuse me, where's the nearest loo/cashpoint?) LEAVE THAT WOMAN ALONE. She doesn't want to talk to you. She has no interest in you. You are completely unimportant and irrelevant to her. And, above all, the most unimportant and irrelevant thing in the world, to her, is your willy.

LEAVE THAT WOMAN ALONE. She doesn't want to talk to you. She has no interest in you. You are completely unimportant and irrelevant to her

Speak for yourself, but I have no problem with someone being genuinely friendly and speaking to me.
(Obviously not including harassing in that of course, that's never acceptable.) Bit sad if you lump in genuine friendliness and passing the time of day/general conversation in there as well.

Maybe the rule should be "If you wouldn't speak to a man in these circumstances then don't speak to a woman"

bertrand

I Agree

I will talk to just about everyone, male or female

@ReanimatedSGB

Is your view on life really that narrow? I pity you

Kind of agree with you reanimated.

From my experience, men who approach me on the street or out in public have been after one thing.

If I were to date, then they would need to be someone I "know"(friend of friend, acquaintance etc.).

Men who approach women in public seem kind of desperate to sleep with anything id say.

Is that pretty much your only contribution to this thread over

'I pity you' and 'im glad im not you'

Cos let me tell you...they are insightful, honestly

Never read anything better and to be fair is probably the answer to just about everything on mumsnet

Nasty mil - im glad im not you
Christmas going wrong - i pity you

Its fab, im waiting for the next bon mot with excitement

Annnnnnd go...

"I pity you" might not be much of a response upthread, but it's a fair point. It IS really sad if some think women shouldn't be spoken to when out in the street.
What do you suggest next? We all need a chaperone when out in case men who aren't related to/we're married to speaks to us or looks at us?
I can't believe in a so called free country that's where some would rather take women.

Did you read reanimated post

Cos thats not what she said

"We all need a chaperone when out in case men who aren't related to/we're married to speaks to us or looks at us?"
Yes-because that is so what anyone is suggesting!

I hate it when people answer a post based on something they didnt say and then extrapolate it out

Although I personally am bloody good at that when speaking to dh, i dont do it on here

The "we should all be respectful of each other, men or women" line is
so trite and completely deliberately ignores the issue of men objectifying and verbally harassing women in public.
I mean, it sounds like it should be a reasonable position but it's actually just denying the reality of misogyny

Yes-because that is so what anyone is suggesting!

Well, it's not too huge a leap from "no men speak to women if you don't know them" to "no women allowed out without a man."
I think it would be better still if men simply stopped trying to speak to women they don't know in public places at all
Women and men can't speak to each other unless they know each other.
Or women and men not mixing with each other if they don't know each other, women not being out unless with someone they know.
Both on the same slope.

chaperone? Yes maybe men should go out chaperoned until they can learn how not behave like dicks

Krytens, did you know that "I think it would be better still if men simply stopped trying to speak to women they don't know in public places at all" was posted by a man trying to be ironic/funny? He also suggested that arranged marriages were the way forward...........

For those of you who haven't read it before: Shrodinger's Rapist is a good illustration of why men should not talk to women they don't know in non-social environments.

For those of you who haven't read it before: Shrodinger's Rapist is a good illustration of why men should not talk to women they don't know in non-social environments.

OK - maybe that was a man - is this though? Saying women shouldn't talk to men outside of certain environments?

kryten

Qoting is only good if you quote all the relevant bits

unless you would say exactly the same thing to a man, or a group, or a couple

There you go, the really important part of that post

Stop being disingenuous, youve not actually said anything yet

chaperone? Yes maybe men should go out chaperoned until they can learn how not behave like dicks

Haha this^^

However as someone upthread posted on the many times she has been harassed and assaulted only 4 men came to her aid/ called out the perpetrator right there and then. So maybe we just need to train dogs to bite them if they are being remotely unreasonable.

This is all sounding rather dystopian.

saying women shouldn't talk to men outside of certain environments?

Nope

Appreciate it was a cross post but to confirm

Unless you would speak the same way to a man, couple or group

If you are a man you may struggle at first but hand in there, if i woman then i bet you already do this

Amazing the lengths some people will go to ensure that no man is ever slightly inconvenienced or put out in any way.....