Episode 300: Hazards of Urban Living
on November 11, 2014
and modified on July 6, 2018.
What’s wrong with telling women to smile? I guess some people aren’t cheered up by it.
So this wraps up the street harassment mini-arc. Coming soon… something else. Exciting, right? Stay tuned! Oh, and if you can’t wait a day longer than you have to for the next installment, make sure to become my Patron on Patreon. Patrons get to see new comics a day earlier than everybody else!
Good because there are a lot of us guys that have never heckled a woman on the street at all anywhere and this is getting tiresome.
LOL
Who’s the guy they beat up in the 4th panel?
His shirt is yellow, the third panel has a guy with a red shirt.
The only conclusion one can draw is they beat up some poor guy for the stuff the 3rd guy said since they got different color shirts 🙂
I can’t believe you’re the first person to notice that. Well spotted! I’ll have to fix it when I get the chance.
now imagine how tiresome it would be if you were one of the women this happened too EVERY DAY.
Always, ALWAYS smile. Even before anyone says anything. Why smile? It makes them wonder what you’ve been up to and wonder if they should be nervous about that. 🙂
That’s one tactic.
Its a good thing there aren’t any women who shake their décolletage and flutter their eyelashes while doing the Fatal Attraction leg dance when there’s a guy or two around to try to manipulate. Then there would be some work for Gyno-Star et al do do on their side of the aisle.
“Décolletage?” LOL
If I told you you had a gorgeous body, would you file a restraining order? 😉
It’s all in the tone of voice. :p
Heh – used to work at a place where the “mantra” was: “Sexual harrassment will not be prosecuted here. It will, however, be graded.”
That’s… actually more likely to work against male psychology than any threat.
“Hey babe! Do those legs go all the way up?”
“Pfft.” [holds up sign: ‘ 2.4’]
“Two point… aw come’on, really? Shit.” [hangs head, walks away].
The judgement and intimidation is flipped around the other direction.
Jerk in a can!
Why is it that men seem to whine about how “not all of us” when it sometimes feels like it is all of them.
Then again, I’m not very happy around men. Men scare me and make me feel horrible.
The important thing is that your feelings are wrong and invalid. Start feeling the way men want you to feel, and everything will be better.
Your lack of self awareness is sometimes scary.
Your lack of intelligence and sense of humor is just sad.
Ever hear of “sarcasm”? It’s this new thing. All the kids are trying it.
HiEv, my comment was in reference to the fact she deletes (and occasionally edits) the comments of people she disagrees with if they don’t give up after being mocked and/or insulted a few times.
I am wondering what brought that accusation on given the fact that I knew she was not mocking me. . .and I have a rather famous inability to get when people are taunting me, teasing me, and joking with me.
However, I would recommend that you brush up on the etiquette of what it means to post comments on a site owned by someone else.
I responded to your comment earlier Artemisia. It uh kind of disappeared like others have this week.
Time to change my name again and start using TOR. I’m on the s***list again.
Every comment is handled on a case-by-case basis. Unless someone is using the comments section to actively harass or abuse me or others, I probably won’t block someone for just being boring or annoying. I will, however, delete individual comments at my own discretion. Because it’s bad enough if someone wants to bore or annoy me, but I’m certainly not going to let them do it to my lovely readers.
Yeah, well, it’s her site. She can do whatever she wants. If she wants to delete the annoying, pointless, insulting, and/or other such unfunny comments, that’s her prerogative. Feel free to get your own site if you want to make those kinds of comments.
Still, that context in no way makes your earlier comment make any more sense than before you told me that. You still just look clueless. There’s no “lack of self awareness” here that makes your reply at all relevant.
Perhaps instead of trolling under a new name you ought to simply buy a clue and stop being such a twit? Unless that’s too difficult for you.
In any case, good luck with that! 🙂
Just to be clear, Rebecca was being sarcastic =P No worries
At least I caught that and I’m bad at catching sarcasm…
Artemisia, Why is it a WHINE when someone tells you a fact of life. I was simply stating a fact that not all guys do that. I’ve NEVER cat called any woman in my life and have no plans to ever do so. Should I assume you you walk down streets dressed like a slutty hooker since you seen to think ALL guys do that…. If that’s the case maybe you should change your style of clothing if that’s what you get every time you go out in public.
I’m sorry but you’ll have to cite where someone said or even implied that all men do this. If you can, I might let this conversation continue. But if you can’t, it’s going in the garbage bin of worthless derailments.
Preemptive note: “Sometimes it seems like all men” is not the same as saying it IS all men. It’s an expression of feeling overwhelmed. You can acknowledge those feelings and ask what you can do to make the world a better place in which no women ever have to feel that way, or you can tell people how their feelings are wrong because you personally aren’t actively part of the problem. Although I think it’s clear how the latter reaction will be received.
Lee…
Ms Cohen is correct regarding my wording. I am well aware that not all men behave in this manner. The problem is that so many men do that it often feels overwhelming. I do not dress immodestly. In fact, most of the time, I wear a calf-length skirt, t-shirt and scarf. And yet, despite my size, I would get hit on and harassed by men quite often. I’ve had men harass me to the point of invading my space and touching me without permission- an act that sends me into a panic.
When a woman walks down the street and just one or two men out of every five or six she comes across harasses her, it feels pervasive and overwhelming- especially for those of us with panic disorders.
And yet, we hear men whine- yes, whine- about how it isn’t all men, but it sure starts to feel like it, especially when men like you gripe and kvetch about being lumped in with men who treat women badly.
What’s more, many men lump women into three categories. I noticed that you, basically, said that if I am being harassed, I must dress like a whore. The fact that I don’t and still get harassed never entered into your mind. You are conditioned to believe “woman getting harassed must be dressed like whore”. Now, your image, if I note a bunch of things about me is to lump me into either the Virgin category or the Bitch category.
Men whine about being lumped into harassers, but you do the same thing to us. Doesn’t feel nice, does it?
Eloquently said, Artemisia 🙂
Eloquently said, Artemisia 🙂
That “most horrible things” line is a real winner. I can definitely vouch.
Hey everybody use that line it guarantees success w/ dating.
So, I hear the “strong silent type” may be coming back into fashion soon.
It would be nice if when the “Smile!” guy is in the can, he says “I hope you enjoyed that!” 🙂 That would show sincerity. 🙂
“Hey baby, is it olk if I mace myself to save everyone some time and effort?”
ironic self aware hipster catcalling
I wonder how jerk #4 would have felt if either of them had snapped back, “I’d like to do the most horrible things to you. Castration’s at the top of my list.”
Ha! Good response. I find that when you respond, they either laugh it off, pleased to have provoked a reaction, or they get angry and escalate the harassment. Although maybe an explicit threat of castration would shock them into silence for at least a moment…
I once threatened to shove a man’s testicles up his nostrils. He very quietly left me alone after that.
I took a self-defense class that emphasized yelling. I mean, really YELLING when you face harassment in public. The loud noise shocks your offender, who likely assumed you’d suffer in silence, and attracts the attention of bystanders who may react favorably by offering help or calling a cop. One guy was pestering me at an art gallery opening. He was there for the free wine and getting progressively more pressing when I ignored him. Finally, irked by my refusal to talk to him, he said, “Well, if you’re going to be a bitch…” That was it. The B word. I started yelling at him, really shouting, and that got the attention of the security who rushed to my aid. Turned out Mr. Bitch had been bothering other women there but none of them had spoken out as I did. My verbal protest was all it took for them to swoop in and have him arrested. Sometimes taking back helps.
Interesting tactic that sounds like a credible approach. I suspect that creating that sudden public awareness could have a real effect. I think it is likely that it was a significant factor in the whole Ghomeshi business. One spoke up and more followed sparking real action.
I saw this “Something Positive” strip and immediately thought of you:
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp11142014.shtml
Enjoy!
Nice!
Ooh, I like it! I’ve heard of something called a Colombian necktie which is a Chicago smile with the tongue pulled down so that it wags in the slit.
Too much?
It has been shown that forcing people to smile doesn’t do them any favors physically.
“Let’s get one thing straight, dirtbag…*I’m* the superhero with the nigh-invulnerable suit, *I* give the goddam orders.”