I said what I wanted to say. Not sure why the antagonism toward what should be a given is necessary but it’s interesting.
“Whattaboutism” seems really out of place here. Have women ever acted wrongly against men? Of course. But are the instances at all equivalent? absolutely not-- sexual assault of all kinds is much, much more commonly committed by men. As are most violent acts. That’s just factual. Arguing for more "sensitivity’ when this is a post about a particular act, and where many, many women are discussing how they have been similarly assaulted, does not need to be scolded to acknowledge another topic.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
+1000. Move on please.
Oh definitely, he thought he’d get away with it at least insofar as she wouldn’t run after him.
I’ve been in the subway situation several times as I commuted daily for decades between school and work. As a kid/younger teen, it was just awful, I didn’t know how to handle it and my instinct was to pretend nothing was happening or move away with as little attention to me as possible.
As an adult, I reacted physically and loudly. At least twice I physically assaulted street gropers. In the first case there were tons of witnesses and in the second, none at all. And the men were drunk or impaired both times, so fairly easy to knock into the gutter (that was one) or push hard into a store window grating (second). I think by then i just wasn’t going to take it, even if if it meant escalating.
But the “drive by” street grope thing has also happened to me and there’s nothing to do about that, unless the guy is wearing a race bib with a number and does it on camera, I suppose.
Wow, the reporter is now represented by Gloria Allred! This guy messed with the wrong woman. ?
Go, Alex! ??
@garland, well said.
I have mixed feelings about Gloria Allred, but it will be interesting to see how the rest of this all plays out.
The accused and his lawyer probably want to get people like you on the jury. The prosecutor obviously does not want people like you on the jury.
There will be no jury, let’s be realistic here.
I understand “backside” to mean rear end.
However, the accused said he thought he was patting her on the “back.”
Yeah, sure.
Look up on Youtube “21-Year-Old Georgia Waitress Takes Down Customer Who Groped Her.”
I’m sure we all remember this; it was just a year and a half ago.
Thanks goodness for young women who won’t take this – ummmm – nonsense anymore.
In my world, butt and backside are different. Both offensive when done without consent but butt is more offensive if the two. Backside involves contact above the waist whereas butt is below the waist.
In my world, backside = butt. Above the waist is my back.
https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/backside
Re: meaning of “backside”
In the context of this particular incident, “backside” means “butt”. https://www.wsav.com/news/local-news/wsavs-alex-bozarjian-addresses-bridge-run-incident/ has an embedded tweet from the reporter that starts “To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning”.
Words matter. This thread shows the variation in reaction and part of it is based on the description of events. Especially for people who haven’t seen the actual footage and are just reacting to the thread here I think we’d get very different responses to:
“Man hits reporter’s backside” vs “Man smacks reporter’s butt” vs “Man gropes reporter and keeps on running.”
After watching the video, I think the description is somewhere in between “Man smacks reporter’s butt” and “Man gropes reporter and keeps on running”.
I think the description is more like, “Stupid arrogant man thinks he gets to fondle any woman just because he can. Strong woman does not agree.”
Strong women never agreed. Or even weak women. The news here is that the prosecutor agreed.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Can we also move from debating definitions? We all have access to a dictionary.
@OHMomof2 - wow, we could swap some stories. I used public transportation throughout high school and college and could tell some unbelievable stories of men behaving badly. Fortunately, I could also share instances of other men speaking out when witnessing such behavior, such as the time a man seated next to me on the El train dropped his pen and “accidentally “ fondled my leg when he retrieved it. I was 15 at the time. Two construction workers standing by the doors witnessed this and the offender was confronted then removed at the next stop.
I think the definitions are pretty important here. We used some PG terms to keep from running afoul of the mods, and it confused at least one poster, and maybe other readers. In a discussion of a criminal prosecution, definitions and clarity are pretty important.
‘I think the definitions are pretty important here. We used some PG terms to keep from running afoul of the mods, and it confused at least one poster, and maybe other readers. In a discussion of a criminal prosecution, definitions and clarity are pretty important.”
Agree. And above the waist hit on the back is not sexual battery. Below the waist in the state at issue here is.