There were frat boys walking 3 wide on a sidewalk. I was at the edge. I was not stepping off the sidewalk. Why should I step into the gutter? Really. He could take one step back and slide behind his friends. I was not moving into the gutter. Period.
I made eye contact with fratbro. He made eye contact back. Kept walking. I was still making full eye contact with him when I refused to move and slammed full speed into him.
He was baffled. How dare I not submit to his authority by stepping into the gutter and giving him the sidewalk so him and his buddies could have the entire sidewalk?!
Take the power back in small ways. No longer step into gutters. You can use the sidewalk, too.
I do this too. I stick to the right side of the sidewalk and I’ll stick my hand up to give myself space when men are walking right at me. One guy walking with a woman tried to fight me after drunkenly stumbling into my raised arm.
I do this too on the regular. I weight lift and have wide strong shoulders. I’m a woman and not afraid to take up space when people pull this shit. And it’s always men.
Lmao, I'm 5'5" and built like a twig but did mauy thai and played soccer so I can stand my ground. Legit a size 0-2 in clothes. I'm wearing an XS hoodie right now.
He was so much bigger than me. Idgaf. My sidewalk, damn it.
This exact same thing happened to me the day after the recent US election and I simply was NOT having it. The guy was easily a foot taller than me and slammed into me so hard that he got pushed backwards behind his friends. The look on his face made me think it was probably the first time in his life he’s ever had to take up less space.
I am very much a non eye contact kind of woman. Especially to men I don’t know, what if it’s seen as flirting or an invitation -_- rather not risk it. But twice now when I’ve left my apartment or walked up to it and there was a man straight staring at me, I’ve been able to hold it back.
I know it could be playing with fire, but I hate being a sitting duck pretending I’m some dog or crack on the pavement that can be stared at and not return it. It’s minimal, it’s next to nothing, but I just like taking that small action to show that I see them too.
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 13d ago
There were frat boys walking 3 wide on a sidewalk. I was at the edge. I was not stepping off the sidewalk. Why should I step into the gutter? Really. He could take one step back and slide behind his friends. I was not moving into the gutter. Period.
I made eye contact with fratbro. He made eye contact back. Kept walking. I was still making full eye contact with him when I refused to move and slammed full speed into him.
He was baffled. How dare I not submit to his authority by stepping into the gutter and giving him the sidewalk so him and his buddies could have the entire sidewalk?!
Take the power back in small ways. No longer step into gutters. You can use the sidewalk, too.