I'm Not Defining Myself As a "Me Too" Person

@FourWalls (62181)
United States
October 16, 2017 10:05pm CST
How's this for a brash generalization? If you are a woman in the US of a particular age group (I'd say over 45), you have been sexually harassed. I'll go out further on a limb: if you're a woman and you've served in the military, you've been sexually harassed. There's a "movement" going around Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets, inviting women to identify themselves as a victim of sexual harassment or sexual abuse with the hashtag "me too." I'm not participating. I don't like the way this doesn't separate between "hey, babe, nice ta-tas" and rape. One is definitely much worse than the other. It's a joke -- and not a good one -- to equate the two. More importantly, what some drunk-on-his-butt sailor said to me 35 years ago doesn't identify who I am today. For that matter, it didn't identify who I was when he said it. But then, I've been subjected to things like that all my life: from wearing glasses at age 7 ("four eyes") to my tetracycline-stained teeth ("gray teeth"), I've felt those "slings and arrows," so maybe I learned at a very early age how to wield my shield and deflect it. Yes, I have been sexually harassed. No, I'm not participating in the "me too" game. It's not who I am. Here's Helen Reddy....although, as tired as I am after a poor night's sleep last night, I'd prefer this as, "I am woman, hear me snore":
Helen Reddy began performing at the age of four in her native Australia; by the early 60s she had her own television series. Between 1971 and 1978, Reddy hit...
7 people like this
3 responses
@snowy22315 (170025)
• United States
17 Oct 17
It is hard to be a woman in this society and not have been sexually harassed. I think the me too thing isn't too bad though because I think it raises awareness. Some people may not be aware that what they think is friendly or showing interest is taken as harassment.
3 people like this
@celticeagle (159105)
• Boise, Idaho
17 Oct 17
I'm glad JJ made his comment here. That needs to be looked at too.
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
18 Oct 17
It's all wrong, but there is a difference.
1 person likes this