We Are Protecting Our Bodies, Not Asking for Permission Thereâs something deeply broken and dangerous happening in the public square. Women and girl
We Are Protecting Our Bodies, Not Asking for Permission
Thereâs something deeply broken and dangerous happening in the public square.
Women and girlsâSurvivors, athletes, mothers, daughters, eldersâare saying no to males in our spaces.
No to being watched, measured, ignored, or replaced.
No to silence. No to forced accommodation.
No to being told we have no right to privacy, dignity, or fear.
And in response?
Weâre being mocked.
Ridiculed.
Publicly slurred.
By men.
Not just fringe men.
Not just online trolls.
But men with platforms.
Men in politics.
Men with blue checks, followers, and funding.
And all because weâre doing what they refuse to doâprotecting women and girls.
This Isnât NewâBut Itâs Getting Uglier
Men mocking women for saying no is not new.
Whatâs new is the boldness.
The public glee.
The celebration of bullying, wrapped in slogans about inclusion and progress.
When women say, âI donât want to change clothes next to a male,â
theyâre told:
âYouâre a bigot.â
âYouâre hateful.â
âYouâre backward.â
When women say, âWe need women-only shelters, sports, and recovery groups,â
theyâre asked:
âWhat are you so afraid of?â
And when we answer, with truth in our throats and data on our side,
weâre told to âbe kind.â
To shut up.
To make space.
Letâs Be Real: Men Have Work to Do
The fact that so many men are investing time and energy into mocking women instead of:
Addressing male violence
Confronting rape culture
Ending child exploitation
Holding other men accountable for abuse and coercion
âŚis a stunning failure.
Women arenât the ones who created unsafe locker rooms, courtrooms, classrooms, or chatrooms.
Men did.
And now that women are trying to clean up the messâweâre the ones being mocked?
That is not progress.
That is not justice.
That is a new low.
This Is About PowerâNot Justice
Make no mistake:
When women say no and men respond with mockery and slurs,
thatâs not a misunderstanding.
Thatâs punishment.
Punishment for having boundaries.
Punishment for surviving.
Punishment for refusing to give up what little space we carved out for ourselves in a world that already tells us our bodies, our needs, and our safety are secondary.
A Final Truth
We do not owe our silence.
We do not owe our spaces.
We do not owe our consent.
And we will not be shamed out of our human right to safety.
Men who mock women for saying no need to ask themselves:
What have you done to make the world safer for us?
And if the answer is ânothingââstep back and be quiet.
We are busy trying to survive.
Trying to recover.
Trying to protect what little ground we have left.
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