הגוף שלי, לא שלך
!הגוף שלי, לא שלך This translates to, "My body, not yours!"
Why is this so difficult for some to understand? It doesn't help that the current President of the United States of America is Donald Trump. Who prior to being elected was caught on tape discussing the perks of being a celebrity saying, "you can do anything... grab them by the pussy."
How could this same man be elected as President?
Having someone like this in office condones misogynist behavior, perpetuating the false idea that men are superior to women, and therefore can do whatever they want to them.
In the last two months, the topic of sexual harassment/assault has become increasingly popular since multiple women came forward with their stories of sexual harassment from film exec, and co-founder of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein. Subsequently, the hastag #METOO was pasted all over the internet and more and more people bravely came forward with their experiences of sexual harassment.
I would not be surprised to find out that every female identifying person has been sexually harassed multiple times in their lifetime.
I would like to share my #METOO, experiences from the last two months.
About a month ago, I was walking out of a dance club with my boyfriend in Tel Aviv, when a guy who was entering the club decided to brush his hand across my chest. I was in shock. It almost seemed accidental, but rationally there was no way this could have been a mistake. He stood in my way, did not allow me to pass, and as he moved aside, he took his hand and brushed it across my chest, essentially feeling me up, in front of my boyfriend. It took a few seconds for what just occurred, to sink in. I was infuriated. Why would someone do that?
Then last Thursday in Tel Aviv I was leaving a show with my boyfriend. We had been walking in the same vicinity as another girl who had left the show. We all ended up on Allenby and I saw that this girl was bothered by a man, she screamed at him and flipped him off. He walked away laughing and stumbled into me, grabbing my left boob. He cackled even harder and continued walking away with his buddies. Again, I was in shock. I could not believe what had just happened. Not only did this guy grab my boob, but he also grabbed another girl nearly two seconds before, right in front of me. She was alone, and I wasn't. It was 2am, but the street was full, but still no one did anything. My boyfriend didn't even know what to do. He was so shocked and angered. He said he wanted to punch the guy. I noticed the girl was sitting at the bus stop afterward, obviously upset. She was huffing and puffing, and then her anger turned to tears. I told my boyfriend to go over to her to ask if she was okay. He said I should go instead. For once, I didn't think about it I just moved. I sat down next to the girl and asked her,
"Are you okay? Did that guy just touch you?"
She sobbed.
I told her, "He just did the same to me. I am so sorry."
We continued to talk and she explained that her boyfriend had just broke up with her. She was hurting. Maybe that guy saw that and wanted to feed off of her pain, by making her feel worse, consequently making him feel more powerful. Does a woman having feelings threaten men? Does diminishing her to an object, by touching her inappropriately, without consent make him feel more powerful and less threatened?
The girls bus arrived, she thanked me, and we hugged goodbye. I am grateful that I had the courage to approach that young woman that night. In order to ease the pain, we need to support, share, and connect with other women.