Was out running errands the other day and I had about 15 minutes to kill before I had to pick up my daughter at school.  Since there was a drugstore at the shopping center where I happened to be, I went in to take a look around. Of course, since I am an old white guy, no one at the store followed me around, no one told me to buy something or get out, and no one called the police because they thought I didn’t belong there.  Also, since I can’t speak another language, no one yelled at me to get out of their country and no one said they couldn’t sell me a product because their religion wouldn’t permit it.  Since I am not a woman, I didn’t need to take any special steps to protect myself from sexual assault.  I didn’t carry my keys like a weapon, or avoid eye contact with men in the store, or hold my cell phone in my hand.  And finally, since they  didn’t play the national anthem, no one threatened to fire me if I didn’t stand.  Just a regular day.

For an eye-opening and widely shared post on how women must constantly guard against sexual assault, see the following by Jackson Katz: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/905315-i-draw-a-line-down-the-middle-of-a-chalkboard

June 10, 2018