In a series of viral tweets, Natalie Gordon shared a story on Twitter about being sexually harassed by a man while riding the bus. Her tweets describe an experience that, for many women, is one to which they can instantly relate. The story begins with Gordon saying, “Let me tell you a story about why men will never understand what it's like to be female.”
Let me tell you a story about why men will never understand what it's like to be female.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
That kicked off a Tweetstorm about an experience she'd just had on a bus that many women can relate to — because it's happened to a lot of us.
I was just on the bus on my way to a meeting. A man taps on my knee. I'm listening to music so take my ear phones out.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
He asks me where the bus is going. I tell him what the next station is. He asks me where I'm going.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
I'm polite and tell him I'm going to a meeting. He then asks if I want to go for a drink.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
In that moment I instantly became worried. Again I am polite and say 'no thank you'. I go to put my earphones back in.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
He pulls them from my hand and says 'don't be rude'. I say 'Sorry'. I don't know what to do, I don't want to provoke him.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
I look out the window but out the corner of my eye I see he is staring at me and has started to rub his crotch.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
I'm horrified and turn to ask him to stop doing it. He laughs at me. I get up and go to the bus driver.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
I tell him that a man is rubbing himself on the bus. The driver, a man, says 'he probably isn't- sit somewhere else'.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
I say 'the man just asked me for a drink and when I said no started to rub himself'. The driver says, 'what do you expect me to do?'
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
I say 'remove him from the bus, call the police- I don't care'. The driver then says to me, 'you're a pretty girl, what do you expect?'
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
For every story shared by a woman about having to pacify the unwanted, inappropriate advances of a man, there are countless more that have not been told. Sometimes they go untold out of shame, other times they are not told because they are so ingrained in our culture that the behaviour ceases to shock people. Worse still, there are other times they are not heard even when they are told. It is something that should never happen, but it does everyday.
You know what I expect, fucking respect for women no matter who they are or what they look like or what they're wearing.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
What I expect is to live in a world where it doesn't matter what I look like- when I fucking say no, I fucking mean no.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
What I expect is to stop feeling so alone and scared. No man will know what this feels like which is why so many will choose not to care.
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) May 4, 2017
According to Gordon, many people responded by sending her private messages of their own experiences with sexual harassment. Gordon’s tweets resonated with so many women. She told Metro, “Support from people on the internet is phenomenal – the outcry of love and worry from almost as many men as women.”
Gordon accentuated one of the most positive things to come out of her experience and subsequent story were reactions from men. “Just having men realising that this happens all the time and that we’re not lying or exaggerating is a huge step in the right direction, she told Metro. “We need more men highlighting women’s issues because we can only change things together.”
Gordon shared on Twitter that she filed a report with the British Transit Police that was being taken seriously. She encouraged other women who have experienced anything similar to report it and, should they see her on public transport in London and feel vulnerable to simply ask her to stand with them.
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