First off, this is not me downplaying that cis dudes also get sexually harrassed or saying that they have an easy time being believed, this is me being mad at the downplaying of sexual harrassment of women.
Do people think women can just point at someone and say “They sexually harrassed me!” No, hell no. Women have been working hard to get people to take them seriously about sexual harrassment forever. Look at how people reacted to Monica Lewinsky. She came forward and pretty much became a laughing stock and a meme. even today, look what happened with Biden and Tara Reade. People roll their eyes at #Metoo and use it as a punchline. “He got #MeToo’d” is a saying people use to insinute women using false sexual harrassment allegations to get men fired. Women who come forward about being harrassed or assaulted routinely get death threats. Victims so often aren’t believed or are harrassed more upon coming forward that often they just don’t bother. It’s been a huge struggle to even get to the point where #metoo could actually get some predators convicted.
I understand and hate that men have a hard time being believed too, but the idea that women somehow don’t also have this problem, or somehow have it easier, sickens me.
No, not at all. I appreciate the understanding. I’m also not commenting at all on whether or not “men have it worse” or whatever other nonsense the person said to you. I have no idea what the actual rates are of sexual harassment is for men or if they are ignored more or less than women on a systemic level. I have absolutely no data on that. I just know what it was like for me and the very few times I’ve heard stories from other men in this regard of assault and harassment the stories are similar.
I do think there is another issue with men is that some of us are socialized to not even recognize harassment and/or assault when it happens to us. I’ve seen men talk about these kinds of experiences online and other men express how that wasn’t assault because “that happened to me.” Like, my brother, you are in denial!