The idea that women who wear makeup are hypocrites for not wanting to be sexually harassed is misogynist, and it’s pathetic, and it’s disgusting.
Yeah, it is. Nobody should be harassed, sexually or otherwise.
But we don’t live on fantasy island.
Should you walk around Detroit in the middle of the night in a fancy suit carrying a briefcase full of cash? No. Why? You’ll get mugged. Should you get mugged? No. Do you deserve it? No. But you will, and you know why? There are terrible people in the world and no amount of bitching about it and activist movements will stop people from being terrible. Anyone with half a lick of sense knows that doing certain things are going to set off shitty people who want to do shitty things to you.
So yeah, if a woman spends three hours on makeup before work dolling herself up, wears a sexy dress and god knows what, she’s going to get attention. And she knows it.
Does she deserve negative attention? No, nobody does, but she’ll get it, and hopefully the ass-holes perpetrating it get reprimanded. But it won’t stop her getting it again in the future.
Being an asshole is gender-less but you can typically avoid attracting assholes by not walking around Detroit with a briefcase of cash.
Calling people who wear makeup “hypocrites” is a stretch and I don’t think that’s the right word to use, but I get what he’s at least trying to say.
Wow.
You can try and qualify it all you like, but you just made the “she was asking for it” defense of harassment (and assault/rape, by the way, since that’s often where this goes). Disgusting.
I disagree. There is actually an argument to be made that, while no one deserves harassment, having a blouse/dress with a plunging neckline isn’t doing the wearer any favors at avoiding it. Certain attire seems specifically designed to draw the eye in particular directions. It doesn’t mean they deserve negative attention.
And I wouldn’t place blame solely on the woman for dressing as such, but on the fashion industry and our culture for teaching women to value wearing such clothing and to accentuate certain features. Again, that doesn’t mean they deserve
it. They don’t.
JEDIT: With regard to makeup, my understanding is that the purpose of makeup is to make it appear as though the wearer isn’t using any. So I don’t really see how doing so is asking for anything.