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I think it's really naive to brush aside the fact that almost all women elicited thoughts of men as being creepy. Women are scared of being raped or worse happe
by wincy 10y ago
I think it's really naive to brush aside the fact that almost all women elicited thoughts of men as being creepy. Women are scared of being raped or worse happening to them, and they're constantly on the lookout for it. This has nothing to do with "categorization", and everything to do with "potentially dangerous".
Being afraid of a creepy guy who won't leave you alone is very different than being creeped out by a clown or an abandoned building.
- ndthp 10y agoIs it very different though? Both fall within, as explained in the article, the ambiguity and mental paralysis coming from being unable to determine whether or not a threat exists.
- omginternets 10y agoAgreed. I think a good approximate description of "creepy" might be "ambiguous or novel, absent overt signaling of pacific intent". Or, more crudely: "wtf" - "oh, it's harmless". What's interesting to me is that under such a definition there's a clear notion of intentionality. Something can only be creepy when it's behavior is directed towards an object. While it might be tempting to point towards places that are creepy (e.g. abandoned hospital), I would suggest that these are eerie rather than creepy.