The Masher Menace: Fascinating Article on Women and Sexual Harassment A Century Ago

[Penfeather]

From Collectors Weekly, this article on the Masher Menace, and how women responded, was too good not to share:

In December 1898, Mrs. Charles C. Lane—also known as strongwoman Mademoiselle Suzinetta, a sideshow entertainer who juggled cannon balls and broke iron chains with her hands—punched a stalker so hard he hit the ground. He charged her with assault, and when she testified at the Yorkville Police Court, she said he’d been annoying her for two days so she hit him. The magistrate told her, “You are the woman this town has been looking for for a long time.” He dismissed the charges against her.