4 ms·

That photo happened long ago. That's a key point here. Today things have changed. Sure, even some slaves weren't offended at the time when slavery was acceptab

by choot 8y ago

That photo happened long ago. That's a key point here. Today things have changed. Sure, even some slaves weren't offended at the time when slavery was acceptable. Today, this behaviour is considered harrasment. Feel free to try it on the street and put a video for us.

prepend 8y ago
I don’t think this is a reasonable assumption. If the participants explicitly stated that the photo isn’t harassment, then it’s unjust for us to assume things about the situation unless we have some information that supports the assumption.
- kaybe 8y ago
  Still, as a woman myself, I feel vividly uncomfortable looking at the image. Her expression does not help, and even if she was smiling or looking happy - this is what you'd do to protect yourself. (A smile under pressure means nothing. You'd even say it was fine during situation itself for the same reason.) I'm glad she says it was fine, and I notice my perception is coloured by my own experiences. Still, for me, it's a powerful image, and one I wouldn't put up for background decoration.
  - prepend 8y ago
    I’m sorry you feel uncomfortable looking at it. As an agoraphobe, as am I. Hopefully, with a strong support system, we can both overcome our irrational discomfort from pictures of things that truly present no harm. Restaurants are really incapable of trying to accommodate all the edge cases for discomfort. Interestingly, I bet seeing these in some way helps.
    - kaybe 8y ago
      The thing is, from my experience, this is not always a harmless situation. Seeing this reminds me of those times and makes me think of mitigation strategies to make sure I'm safe. (See that look on her face? My first read of that is 'Don't make eye contact, don't acknowledge them or they'll follow you around the block and into any smaller streets and if you're unlucky back to your house.') The fact that there's so many groups of seemingly unrelated guys in the picture is good though, they will keep each other in check and if there's trouble some of them will step up to help. If you can be sure there won't be a small subset of them following you one minute later, it could be worse. They seem to be on some sort of break, so you're probably safe from that. The guy with the scooter looks the most problematic, so keep an eye on that one without looking at him. This is a normal though process for many women. In almost all cases it's perfectly safe, but you need to catch the one where it isn't. Are you telling me this is irrational?

by choot 8y ago

prepend 8y ago

I don’t think this is a reasonable assumption. If the participants explicitly stated that the photo isn’t harassment, then it’s unjust for us to assume things about the situation unless we have some information that supports the assumption.

kaybe 8y ago
Still, as a woman myself, I feel vividly uncomfortable looking at the image. Her expression does not help, and even if she was smiling or looking happy - this is what you'd do to protect yourself. (A smile under pressure means nothing. You'd even say it was fine during situation itself for the same reason.) I'm glad she says it was fine, and I notice my perception is coloured by my own experiences. Still, for me, it's a powerful image, and one I wouldn't put up for background decoration.
- prepend 8y ago
  I’m sorry you feel uncomfortable looking at it. As an agoraphobe, as am I. Hopefully, with a strong support system, we can both overcome our irrational discomfort from pictures of things that truly present no harm. Restaurants are really incapable of trying to accommodate all the edge cases for discomfort. Interestingly, I bet seeing these in some way helps.
  - kaybe 8y ago
    The thing is, from my experience, this is not always a harmless situation. Seeing this reminds me of those times and makes me think of mitigation strategies to make sure I'm safe. (See that look on her face? My first read of that is 'Don't make eye contact, don't acknowledge them or they'll follow you around the block and into any smaller streets and if you're unlucky back to your house.') The fact that there's so many groups of seemingly unrelated guys in the picture is good though, they will keep each other in check and if there's trouble some of them will step up to help. If you can be sure there won't be a small subset of them following you one minute later, it could be worse. They seem to be on some sort of break, so you're probably safe from that. The guy with the scooter looks the most problematic, so keep an eye on that one without looking at him. This is a normal though process for many women. In almost all cases it's perfectly safe, but you need to catch the one where it isn't. Are you telling me this is irrational?