Me Too

I know this is already passé, but there is something about the "me too" hashtag campaign that strikes at my very core.  Yes, Quiet Rage is part of the "me too" crowd.  I'm sure it has influenced my ongoing bitterness at the world.  I'm in therapy for that.

It started as a child.  My kindergarten bus driver creeped me out.  It didn't start that way.  I thought he was being super cool by letting me sit on his lap and "drive" the bus.  Remember, this was waaaaaaay back in the stone age before Megan's Law, background checks, and helicopter parenting existed.

About age 9-10 ish my sister's male friend, who was 17 or so at the time, tried to kiss me in my parents' basement.  It was also about this time boys at school would start asking if I was wearing a bra and if I had pubic hair.  I also recall several times a guy following me on my bike.  I went to a stranger's house pretending I lived there so he would go away.  One time, a guy pulled up and told me to get in his car.  He said my mother told him it was OK.  My gut told me otherwise.  Then there was the creepy uncle who also tried to corner me in the basement at a family function.  I got scared, broke free, and sat glued to my parents' side the rest of the time.  When I got the courage to tell my mom what happened she said, "Don't tell.... Uncle's Wife would be devastated and it would break her heart."

As a teenager my ass would be routinely grabbed by guys in the hallway at school.  By this time I thought this was a demonstration of admiration and not the power play that it really was.  My first love (or I thought it was love) took unspeakable sexual liberties with me that have me scarred to this day.  I worked as a cocktail waitress where male patrons thought I was on the menu as well.  I loathed serving groups of men.  They all tried to one-up each other making remarks to each other that were meant for me to be overheard about my body to see how much I would take before I retaliated.

After all of this I ended up in a career that is male dominated.  I remember announcing my pregnancy.  One of the guys said, "I bet (husband) just HATED doing that to you..ha ha ha."

I didn't think it was funny.

Then there was the issue with prostitutes.  It's so common.  So many so-called happily married men think nothing of soliciting sex with a prostitute and then go home and tell their wives how much they love them.

I could go on and on....... moral of the story:  Guys, we are not just flesh for your pleasure.  We have feelings, emotions, hearts, and minds.  We are people.  How would you like to be poked, prodded, and judged like a piece of meat?