I met a man in the neighborhood tavern last night. He was beautiful (looking). He was the right age for me (I'm 40 and he was 38), he had a good job, he had green eyes, he was sweet. He said he had been looking for somebody like me. He wanted to exchange numbers and get together. We were both all over each other. We both thought we had hit the jackpot.
Until the 24 year old bartender confronted him.
"You're gonna do this here right in front of me?" the young girl said to the man I was canoodling with. He mumbled something rudely dismissive to her and turned his attention back to me.
WTF?
"Don't you slut shame her." I warned. To be fair, I warned him. I warned him while she was still in earshot. He didn't like it. He got an annoyed look on his face and tried to convince me she deserved it because of some alleged fellatio she supposedly performed on several bar customers and employees.
Have y'all seen some of my feminist diaries? This mutherfucker just barked up the wrong tree.
"What the fuck did I just say?! Didn't just I tell you to not slut shame that girl?!"
The whole thing escalated until I was outside shouting down him and all his friends.
"What the fuck is wrong with y'all?! Why should any woman respect you?? You're a buncha goddamn bullies!"
Respect. They think they're the ones who get to decide who's worthy of it.
Is that what we've been reduced to? I'm supposed to beg for your favor by helping you proverbially stone a woman?
I'm not gonna participate in the Stoning of Soraya M. I watched that film 3 years ago and I was all alone when I viewed it. I can never, ever watch it again. I was so upset, I was rolling on the floor and weeping, no, I was SCREAMING. The thing that upset me the most was the other women who gleefully took their turns throwing rocks at Soraya. One of the women was cheering like somebody scored a touchdown when a rock hit it's target and almost knocked Soraya mercifully unconscious.
Hey lady. One day, you'll be standing in a pit up to your waist.
I've been in that proverbial pit myself.
This aggression will not stand. Not unless it's standing in a stoning pit and I get to throw rocks at it.
That's what I did. I took that rock and threw it right back at that bastard. I will always stand up for women. I don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about it. I can't believe wtf happened last night and yet I can. I'm still really, really pissed off. I am never going into that place again.
Thanks for listening, y'all. Thanks for being feminists. I feel safe here always.