A man just shouted at me in the street

[Dallia]

“Why are you wearing a curtain?”

I kind of smiled awkwardly and carried on crossing the road to him shouting “oi, you, I’m talking to you!”

I was absolutely mortified, lots of people were watching but no one said anything.

Why do people do this? He seemed like a “normal person” and it was really intimidating. He turned back to look and I thought he was going to start following me. Has anyone ever had weird random things shouted at them in the street, or is it just me

For the record I was wearing a stripy maxi dress as I was on my way to get a spray tan. Really wish I’d had a witty comeback.

I understand why people think it’s good to have a witty comeback but ime it escalates when you engage and why should the onus be on women to come up with hilarious one liners to absolute scumbags who should stfu in the first place. The pp’s 8 year old dd, what should she have said to that fucking taxi driver? He should have been up for sexual abuse of a child imho. And I’d be glad if the police were swamped with sexual harassment, verbal abuse and assault claims because the powers that be then might actually start taking women seriously rather than hand wringing about cultural differences or how women should be keeping themselves safe. An epidemic of verbal, physical and sexual assault that we don’t like to bother anyone with because we’re ashamed. Well fuck that, quite frankly.

waterlego this happened with my 12 year old niece. "Man" in his twenties was very openly looking her up and down. I got in his face and hissed "she's 12, cunt". Did the trick.

As an aside, I've just left my office to go get a sandwich for lunch. I was driving behind a minibus which is used to transport high school kids to and from the local college to use their sports facilities.

One of these kids, couldn't have been any more than 14 or 15, spotted me driving behind them, smirked, nudged his pal and they both started jeering, gesturing at their chests like they were playing with breasts (I had my winter coat zipped up to my neck), and holding up two fingers in a V and pretending to lick between them. (Seriously, school kids still do this??)

Please lets not allow the next generation of men to be as entitled and misogynistic as the many, many that are mentioned on this thread.

There's a huge onus on other men to start calling out the ones doing this. There's significant peer pressure to say nothing, but until other men start pointing out how pathetic it is, little will change imo.
I know the white van driver is the stereotypical image, but this is rife in boardrooms too. Perhaps not so blatant as across a street, but the comments some men will make over a woman can be beyond description, whilst lots of hangers-on will guffaw at the supposed hilarity. It's not just women btw, it's anybody they choose on any given day, but women are the most frequent target.

Many years ago when I was young and didn't care, I was wearing a t-shirt without a bra (I am not very well-endowed) and some dickhead yelled to me "you should wear a bra with that t-shirt". I replied (but only in my head unfortunately) "and you should wear a gag with that mouth". How I wish I'd said it out loud.

The witty retorts can sometimes make them look stupid, but sometimes they interpret it as you having balls and give as good as you get, but this perversely normalises it in their minds... she can take it, she's one of us. It couldn't be further from the truth.

I want to know where you live that you can wear a maxi dress in February. It's baltic here!

This is a very timely thread.

I have just walked down to the post office on my lunch break and some bloke leaned out of his car and called me a "fucking slag".

He then drove around the block so he could drive past me and do it again!

Sometimes I really really hate men. I wish we could start rounding up all the sub-species that behave as described here and drown/castrate them.

Yep a lot. even heavily pregnant.

Most recent was walking out of B and q. I was in ugg boots and jeans covered in paint, two lads look at me and go would you? Other says yes and they laugh

When I was pushing my son in his pram someone shouted out their van "milf"

Nice Tits shouted at me in full view of people.

Always always men

It certainly isn't just white van man. When working for a law firm, I would go home for lunch to walk my dogs. One of the partners thought it funny to tell clients etc that I was going dogging.

My worst one isn't even mine - it's my mum's. She is late sixties and has mobility issues due to arthritis. She was waiting at a bus stop with some young secondary aged boys (12-13 ish) they were spitting on the ground and swearing and mum told them to stop. One of them told her that their dad had said women "like her" were only good for raping.

My mum asked for his dad's name and address so that she could report him to the police. Little fuckers like that won't quell her but honestly, how fucking awful.

What does "like her" mean? Specifically infirm older women or more widely all women? And what the hell was a father doing telling his pre-pubescent son things like that?

@MrsKoala wtaf???

At what bit Ginger? I would like to say it's all wtaf!

I remember being thoroughly creeped out by a man pretending to be a security guard at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. He made out that there was an issue with me leaving the country and demanded to see my passport. I (stupidly) gave it to him, but then it was plain that he was just harassing me and I demanded it back.

I think he backed down when he saw that I had a UK Passport, he might have thought I was Eastern European and a possible sex worker.

I really felt very vulnerable that morning.

All of it @MrsKoala but the last bit especially!!!!

I get this all the time as I walk a lot (don't have a car). It's disgusting and embarrasses my children but the only time it shocked me was when it happened on my doorstep, a Tesco delivery man thought I should hear his thoughts on me. Ffs.

Was dashing about on some errand busy high street at midday full of people. Bloke look totally normal said ‘my names x what’s yours’ I tell him my name and that I’m in a hurry. He replies that he’d really like to fuck me then just starts grabbing my tits. I yell at him and back off sharpish. Loads of people watching but doing nothing.

Still don’t know if he had MH issues or if he just thought he could do whatever he wanted in broad daylight with out any comeback, which would of course be correct. :-(

It just goes on and on. Those are just ones off the top of my head.

A man in sandwich bar was in the q in front of me and talking about the tattoo piercing place he worked at to the guy behind the counter. He then, turned to me and said 'i could pierce your labia for free if you like, i'll be wearing gloves so it wont be like i'm actually touching you'. I was so embarrassed i just sort of laughed and mumbled something. He looked at me like he really thought i'd say okay.

Catherine Deneuve may have said this was just a clumsy pick up.

On and on and on it goes. Where it stops nobody knows.

Jesus, this makes grim reading. Particularly the ones involving children, either as victims or the perpetrators. Lock up your daughters.....except it should be lock up your men. I would like to see catcalling made an offence.

There are some strange people out there it is best to ignore them as much as possible.

Only thing I remember is sitting on a bus with new born pfb and a lady opposite started talking to me, it quickly escalated to her threatening to stab me and my pfb for being a bad person. I was stunned and no one said anything except the bus driver calling her a bad person when she went to get off and she threatened to call the police on him. later learned of her infamy even in a city and seen her about after that, she had learning difficulties. Still stunned no one said a peep.

Not in the last few yrs but I've had strange men approach me twice on the street claiming to know me and asking me to go away with them right there and then.
3rd was a red van of men again claiming to know me trying to get me to go closer to van. I was between the ages of 16-18 but obviously had naive and abductable stamped on my forehead.

Yes, it really is grim reading especially the one about the taxi driver making an obscene gesture to a child. And today, I keep remembering incidents that were long forgotten.

Maybe this entire thr advshould go on to the everyday sexism website?

yelled "alright fatty?" The ground could've swallowed me.

"Doing great thanks, Wanker"

Sorted.

Agh I’ve remembered another one.

Went with a friend to Barcelona when we were 19, man outside the airport came up to us and asked if we wanted to share a taxi with him (full on Taken style) when we said no he started shouting abuse at us in Spanish. I dread to think what might happen to young girls who aren’t so clued up.