R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Find out what it means to me…just a little respect is all Aretha and women really want. Is that too much to ask? Seriously fellas, I feel bad for the guys who get a bad rap because of all the disgusting men like Donald Trump out there. I don’t want to get all political or come across as an angry feminist, but the latest incident with another pig of a man has me all fired up.

Last weekend, I was at a Halloween party with some old colleagues that I used to work with and we’re all having a great time guessing who’s who and picking out our favorite costumes, when this guy tries on a creepy scarecrow mask and proceeds to walk towards me and grabs my chest and then reaches around and grabs my ass! I removed his slimy paws immediately and yelled, “what the hell!?” and walked away wanting to kick this guy in the balls. Luckily I didn’t because this guy was a cop and I might have been thrown in jail for assaulting an officer. (I’m sorry, but I would never date a cop and this is one of the reasons why…most of them think their above the law). Last time I checked, that was considered sexual assault and yet he seems to think it was okay.

I went over to a group of my friends and they could see that I was pissed, so they asked me what happened. Now, two of them were guys and they just stood there with their mouths wide open in shock. One of them said, “I can’t believe anyone would do that” and the other said, “I don’t care how drunk he is, a man should never put his hands on any woman like that.” This made me feel a little calmer and validated my reaction to this unwanted advance. Hell, I don’t care if the guy looked like Brad Pitt; no woman wants to be groped like that! Hold that thought…yes….sadly, there are woman who allow men to act like that and that’s the damn problem!

We live in a world of contradiction. On one side we have self-respecting women who are completely turned off by misogynist creeps like Trump (and many others like him) and then on the other side you have women who are so desperate for attention from men that they welcome these sleazy advances or do nothing to stop them. Are men the problem or the women who allow it? If women were clear and consistent about being treated with respect and not like sexual objects for men to fondle whenever they feel like it, then perhaps we would have a lot less douche bags in the world grabbing a woman’s body without permission!

The guy ended up coming up to me again and I just put up my hand to him and said, “You can stay right there.” He had the nerve to put his hand on my knee and say, “Aw, I was just joking around.” I just gave him a look and said, “NOT funny!” His face turned serious when he realized I was upset and he quickly apologized. He proceeded to apologize several more times throughout the evening and I could tell he was sincere. I don’t know this guy well, but I always thought he was a nice enough guy. Guess not. This led to further discussion of another incident that happened with another cop with someone else and we wondered if the environment they work in breads this kind of behavior? Are certain vocations that are dominated by men a breeding ground for knuckle dragging Neanderthals? I’m not just picking on cops, by the way, there are plenty of other industries where this happens as well. For example, my daughter is an engineer for a manufacturing company and she gets hit on all the time. Not only hit on, but has had men, suggest that if a woman can run one of the machines she is training them on then anyone can do it. That is the kind of bullshit that women put up with every day. That misogynistic sexism that makes women like me wonder if there are more of “them” and less of the “good guys”.

I have to say that most of the men I know are not like that…at least in front of me anyway. I don’t want to chastise all men. What I really want is for women to have more R.E.S.P.E.C.T for themselves. Men are constantly getting mixed signals from society and I think they have forgotten that women should always be treated like ladies, even though some industries perpetuate the objectification and sexual exploitation of women. You know I love me some Beyoncé, but she shakes her ass and humps the floor just like a stripper on a pole and makes millions doing it. I’d rather my daughter and all the young women out there emulate Alicia Keys who never sells her body on stage because she has too much self-worth than that. She is a true artist that is sending a message to all young girls to love themselves for who they are as strong intelligent women and not cheap imitations.

Okay, I’ll get off my soap box now. I know some of you might be rolling their eyes thinking I need to chill out with all that feminist shit, but some of you are yelling “HELL YEA!” Those are the kind of ladies I respect and so do men…good men. Just think about it.

With Faith, Hope and Love,

~Teresa