Poor dears....

But the woman always has the last laugh. Weaker sex.?..don't make me laugh ...I married a Barnsley lass.

 

Women are beautiful

Men stare

There is a God

 

That works both ways, here I try to never go alone in an elevator with a woman as its been reported on many occasions the woman tells the man that she will report him for molestation unless he gives her money. That would mean deportation for the man and 3 months in prison before, so what do you do?

 

So after being married for 35 years with a 28 year old daughter you think I don't empathise with women and have no idea what intimidates them?

AND... What you are saying backs up what I said in another post on this thread. It is not the staring that intimidates but what he MIGHT do . If that is how she feels then the mere presence of a man in that situation is enough to make her feel intimidated.

 

Women say the feel uncomfortable when some blokes stare, seem fair enough to me. What I think we have to differentiate here is an admiring glance/look and a long lingering menacing stare.
I t happened to our lass when she was younger and on her own and really unsettled her, a bloke had just been sat staring then it was only when I turned up that he pissed off.

 

Cross eyed??

 

So you think that women are more at risk now than say in Victorian times? or the the 20s 30s 50s and 60s. Is paedophilia really a new phenomenon? I would like to see statistics that back that up. I do not believe anything has changed except attitudes.
I think that people have generally become more paranoid. Media latches onto things and social media fans the flames. years ago old men often widowed would sit in the park on an autumn day and watch the kids playing and reminiscing over their own kids and grandkids and nobody would worry.
I was in Locke Park with my wife walking towards the café one day and we passed an old man was sitting on the bench opposite the play area. A little girl ran towards him to pick up a ball that had rolled at his feet. He picked it up and gave it to her and smiled. A woman with a strident voice, rather than telling her to thank him like would have happened a few years ago, shouted "Come away from that man" causing everyone to turn and look at him. Now THAT is uncomfortable and the old guy got up and walked off. parents banned from filming school concerts ..the list goes on.

It IS a phenomenon along with PC that is far more prevalent in Britain than say, Italy, and France (two places I can comment on) and is getting a bit out-of hand and will ultimately have a negative affect on the country.

 

Herein lies the problem. I bet there isn't a bloke on here who hasn't shot an admiring glance at a female stranger in the past week. I bet there also isn't a bloke on here who (after ten tin pints) hasn't tried to shoot an admiring glance but lingered about too long, but with no threat or malice intended. We would be aghast if the female in question thought we were leering and distraught if we discovered they felt intimidated.

I suppose it comes down to context - where it takes place, what time of night, the age of the female and the age and looks of the admirer/leerer.

 

It seems you're not willing to consider what actually does upset people and make them feel vulnerable, rather looking at it from the perspective of what you think should make them feel uncomfortable or what is acceptable, from a heterosexual male outlook.

There's a pretty blindingly obvious difference between the mere presence of a man and one who is clearly acting in a way that might suggest he's a danger. Acting in a way that frightens the woman. Which is enough for it to be unacceptable.

 

Just to add to my post, I think another problem is the increasing sexualisation of women in entertainment, for which I think the women are largely to blame. I bet young lads these days don't know whether they're coming or going with some of the music videos around these days.

 

Believe me,I DO understand and can sense when a situation may be threatening but at the same time it is an over-reaction to claim intimidation simply by being stared at. In a busy place to re-iterate, I fail to see being just stared at should be intimidating unless accompanied by another action . That applies to men and women.
I have actually been on a station (Goldthorpe) alone with a woman in such a situation described and after a few minutes deliberately struck up an inane conversation without actually approaching her and remained standing several feet away from her. As the train was late it was the awkward silence that I felt fuelled her possible discomfort and that made me feel uncomfortable. I tend to talk to anyone regardless of gender as my wife says and even been known to break the lift etiquette of silence. The conversation actually broke the tension and when the train arrived she smiled, I let her get on first and said goodbye and moved to another seat. She spoke to me when we got off at Leeds station and said goodbye.

I had a similar situation once in Leeds at 5 in the morning when I found myself following a woman and was actually gaining on here ( I am quite tall and walk quite fast. I saw here quicken her step and clearly, from her demeanour she was concerned. I stopped and bent down to tie my shoelace (which was not actually undone) she did look glance round at some point and saw I was dropping back and then I saw her relax.

 

Being stared at can be intimidating without another action though, of course it can. If I was sat alone waiting for a bus and somebody was stood staring at me I would be pretty intimidated without them needing to do any other action. It most likely wouldn't be the intention of the other person but it would be the result. If I was a woman and he was a man would that mean I was being sexually harassed? Not necessarily, that would all depend on the situation wouldn't it.

 

Fair enough, and as you say you clearly have a sense of when something might be intimidating given how you've behaved in the sutuations you mention.

But my point is, I'm sure the type of staring the article mentions is when people are intimidated rather than over reactions. The way I look at it, unfortuntely not everyone is as confident as you or me might be, and might not feel safe if someone is staring at them in an overly provocative way. I think there's every reason to prevent situations where vulnerable people feel in danger. It's not about being hyper-sensitive to trivial things but making sure people are protected.

 

I'm a little late to this particular party but this news item was debated on LBC on my way to work this morning. The impression I got was the there seems to be a difference between staring and looking which I can understand. Nick Ferrari pushed the point quite hard to really understand how the term 'sexually harassed' was defined.

Listening to some of the calls I could understand where some women were coming from although some came across as very overly sensitive.