field creep

This post at Jezebel stirred up quite a reaction.

I have to admit that I generally don’t get bugged by overly friendly/personal space-enroaching/borderline stalkerish men, for two reasons. First, I’ve been told a million times that I look like a teenager, and roughly 90% of men are going to avoid hitting on an underage girl. Second, my stride. You see, my father’s tall and lanky, and he has a really long stride. To this day, if we’re walking somewhere and I don’t want to break into a trot, I need to match it. And that long stride became the way I walk, well, all the time. Combine my long stride with my east coast big city avoidance of eye contact, and I don’t give “friendly” strangers much of a chance to hit on me.

That doesn’t mean I entirely avoid creepy men when I'm working, though. A couple times, I’ve emerged from a swamp in my waders, ass-deep in mud, only to have some mouth-breather cackle “don’t you look sexy with your thigh-high boots!” (accompanied by a leer). This has only happened when I’m alone, so it’s actually pretty unnerving.

It’s pretty simple. I'm fine with being approached. But you need to give me some personal space. And try to pay attention to what I’m saying, and not other, ah, assets. And oh yeah. Don’t be an asshole.