Fhaps' journal

melissaanelli:

We were discussing homosexuality because of an allusion to it in the book we were reading, and several boys made comments such as, “That’s disgusting.” We got into the debate and eventually a boy admitted that he was terrified/disgusted when he was once sharing a taxi and the other male passenger made a pass at him.

The lightbulb went off. “Oh,” I said. “I get it. See, you are afraid, because for the first time in your life you have found yourself a victim of unwanted sexual advances by someone who has the physical ability to use force against you.” The boy nodded and shuddered visibly.

“But,” I continued. “As a woman, you learn to live with that from the time you are fourteen, and it never stops. We live with that fear every day of our lives. Every man walking through the parking garage the same time you are is either just a harmless stranger or a potential rapist. Every time.”

The girls in the room nodded, agreeing. The boys seemed genuinely shocked. 

“So think about that the next time you hit on a girl. Maybe, like you in the taxi, she doesn’t actually want you to.”Because this needs to be said until it never has to be said again.

For those in my twitter and Tumblr feed new to him, you should really read Andrew Sullivan daily. You will learn about the world and laugh and see a lot of different viewpoints, and look at what it means to be someone of truly self-questioning intellectualism (which is the only kind that really works).