So there’s a serial groper in my city, and the radio guys were polling their audience to search out women who’d been groped. And were amazed (they said) at the number of women who came forward. I can only imagine the # of women who couldn’t get thru.
I don’t think I know one woman who’s never been unwilling groped in a public place. I honestly can’t even count the number of times it’s happened to me. And I really don’t think I’m grope-worthy.
So if you’re a woman, and you’ve never ever been groped, or even suspected you had been, tell me about it.
I’m 34 and never been groped. But I don’t hang out on public transportation, and I look kind of menacing so I don’t really run in to people who would find it a good idea. I’ve been to a lot of concerts and stuff, too. Places with crowds. I’m just that scary, I guess.
I don’t think I’ve been groped. I’ve been flashed, cat-called, offered foot massages, offered money for sex, yelled at for being fat, and otherwise annoyed, but nothing I can recall that would count as groping.
Never been groped without consent. Never been sexually assaulted. Never been sexually harassed. I’m always baffled by these statistics, since I never see any of this stuff happening and my friends have never mentioned any of these things happening to them, either. That isn’t to say I don’t know any women who have been raped or assaulted…I do, it’s just that the numbers are few and far between of any women of my acquaintance who have shared that this has happened to them. As for groping specifically, can’t think of a single instance ever having been mentioned by my friends or family.
Would you know, though? I was groped a few times as a teenager - not recently and not very often so it’s not likely to come up in casual conversation, but it did happen.
The first time I was groped was about 15 years ago. My neighbour - who worked at the town dump - had rescued a kitten that his workmate were playing catch with :eek::mad:. He brought it to me because he knew I liked animals. Well that’s what he said anyway. Stupid me I let him in the door. After fixing up the kitten as best as I could I offered him some eggnog (it was just before Christmas and I do like a bit of eggnog) he basically said “no thanks but I do want some of this” as he grabbed me between the legs. I did not respond in the way he wanted and suggested he leave. For the rest of the time he lived there I basically hid if I knew he was about. He knocked on my door several times.
Sadly the kitten did not survive. I like to think that I was able to make it feel loved even for the short time a I had her.
Not a grope, but more unwanted contact - I was working in a department store at the time, and I was leaning forward to put something away on a shelf when I felt something brush across by butt. I turned and a man was walking away. It could have been a accident, but there was more than enough room to get by me.
Not groped, if by groping you mean a strong hold on some body part. There was some man who kept invading my space, touching my shoulder, and trying to get too close, but I kept moving apart. Managed to finally break contact with him. I think he never tried groping because, lucky for me, every time we would move to a new location, someone else was there. I’ve been flashed and had some minor cat-calls too, but those don’t bother me (the unwanted flashing did).
I’m not counting as groping, though, the times a drag queen passed by and gave my boob a squeeze, or the time a friend’s wife similarly did the same. I was surprised both times, but neither made me feel uncomfortable and I never feared for my safety.
Besides the assholes in the clubs who kept bumping into me with their erections, I can only remember one incident where I felt assaulted. I was 16 and the guy I’d just started dating kept going for my boobs while we were kissing and I kept smacking his hand away. He thought I was being adorable at first, but he got angry about it after the third time, and squeezed HARD. I got the hell out of there. He later claimed I was making too much of it and also that really, I owed him access to more by that point.
There have been a few other incidents where someone has brushed up against my boobs or butt, but very few of them seemed deliberate. I’m not sure if I’m lucky, naive, or oblivious.
I was 13 and with my parents and with my sister who was in her 20s. They were right there. They had no clue and I never told my parents at all. I told other people, but it was decades later.
:mad:. He brought it to me because he knew I liked animals. Well that’s what he said anyway. Stupid me I let him in the door. After fixing up the kitten as best as I could I offered him some eggnog (it was just before Christmas and I do like a bit of eggnog) he basically said “no thanks but I do want some of this” as he grabbed me between the legs. I did not respond in the way he wanted and suggested he leave. For the rest of the time he lived there I basically hid if I knew he was about. He knocked on my door several times.