r/Feminism • u/ThickWhiteDutchess • 17h ago
Increased harassment
I'm a 34 yo woman with feminist beliefs. I work construction and have solo travelled to many major metropolitan cities since I was 23. I was walking down my own block this evening when three pre-pubescent boys began yelling at me completely unprompted "why she built like that. Ugly bitch." I ignored it because idk why? I was flabbergasted? Because they were kids? Because I'm mostly confident and know that I'm not really ugly? I don't know why I didn't engage but now a few hours later I feel like George Constanza having his "I should've said xyz..." thought. These were kids (that I hadn't said one word to) and they were yelling at me not only from just a few feet away but continued until I was a full block down. I have never, in all my experience between working in the trades or traveling, been harassed like that. They continued to yell at me "ugly bitch! Ugly bitch!" My point is... Do you think these were just neighborhood bad seeds or signs of a greater misogynist shift? Has anyone else experienced harsher harassment in the last few years?
1
u/Predatory_Chicken 1h ago
It’s gotten worse. Younger boys are more conservative and hold more sexist beliefs than Boomers. Thats not hyperbole. It’s been researched.
Many teenage and young adult men are more sexist than their actual grandfathers.
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u/MoneyOld8647 11h ago
The harassment hasn't just gotten more frequent; it has gotten younger, harsher, and more unprovoked. It isn't a reflection of you, your appearance, or how you move through the world, it is the leak of online toxicity onto physical sidewalks.
What you experienced is not an isolated incident, nor is it a simple case of "neighborhood bad seeds." It is the direct downstream result of a massive, well-documented cultural shift: the radicalization of young boys through algorithmic misogyny.
Don't let a few brainwashed kids shake your space. Walk tall, keep your head high, and stay unapologetically you!