A better question is who made you spokeswomen for all women? As I see in these answers you clearly do not represent all woman. Taking your own experiences (maybe, or maybe you’ve never experienced this at all) and applying them broadly to others renders you question as baseless.

All people have limited freedoms in the world. How many people died in Iraq today? Men and women there can’t take their garbage out without a chance of dying… and the lions share are men.

What do you say to the women here that don’t share your viewpoint? (sorry it not “your” viewpoint right?)

I go to dinner by myself and sit at the bar and have a drink. I travel by myself. I walk down the street and look the world in the eye. I am an accomplished business women.

Women have every right as men.
You have defeated yourself if you think otherwise.

“Now,” several people have already illustrated. Many women are able to do the things mentioned without fear of rape or objectification, whether it is because they know how to defend themselves, frequent places they deem safe or deem society as generally safe, or don’t feel threatened, offended, or harrassed by objectification, or don’t feel these things exist, etc.

“Never” for various reasons: biology, environment and socialization, including value differences, fear, ignorance, etc.

Also, in response to some of the comments who find these scenarios ludicrous or outlandish, just becuase it hasn’t happened to you doesn’t make it untrue. I see a lot of “never happened to me or anyone I know,” which doesn’t make the statement false or invalid.

You might also consider that most people wouldn’t enjoy sharing personal stories of rape, harassment, or abuse as everyday conversation. Just a thought.

I haven’t been so fortunate as some of these others. I’ve had several negative experiences that are comparable to the ones listed here. One example. I was almost kidnapped in a safe area in daylight by two men, strangers. One grabbed me and tried to drag me into the car to have some “fun,” I was wearing baggy sweats, no makeup, and my hair in a bun. I was also coming back from a therapy session dealing with rape, making it seem more absurd. I only escaped because some people came walking down the street.

Some people might say “yeah but how often does that happen?” The answer: Too often. What’s the likelihood these men found someone else because I got away? What’s the likelihood that two women would have grabbed some man off the street and raped and/or killed him?

I’ve been sexually assaulted, harassed, objectified more times in my life than I would like to ever recount. So that’s exactly what I don’t do. I do not live in fear and behave as a victim although I have been victimized plenty. It sucks. It really, really sucks, but I deal with it. I have to or I will not enjoy all the other things life has to offer that are truly beautiful.

So what do I do? I take a proactive approach to dealing with what I feel is an overly-sexualized, irresponsible society. That means I do not walk around in suggestive clothing (that doesn’t mean I walk around in sweats all day either), take self-defense, don’t make a habit of going out alone at night, etc. I contribute positively by behaving consciously based on my values and acting as a role model. I behave rationally, logically, and maturely as any person (man and woman) should. I accept my mistakes and make an effort to learn from them. I also try to help people who need help.

I wouldn’t call it living in fear. It is being practical and responsible for myself in a society that has a multitude of problems. I think the problem underlying the lack of respect for women is in the lack of understanding of ourselves as people, that lack of values, and the lack of individual and social responsibility. For me, these are the things that interfere with liberty.

When will men ever gain the right to walk to work and back without a single undeserved harassment suit in that period?

When will men be able to take out their garbage and check their mail without receiving a state order to pay for a child he cannot even see?

When will man ever gain the right to dress however he likes for his own self-gratification only, without being though as a queer or transvestite?

When will men be allowed to be alone and cherish and relax without having to financially support an “independent” woman he divorced with? Why cant a man divorce without fearing to give half of their paycheck to their ex for the rest of their lives?

When will men have the right to sleep with a woman at night without the woman regretting it the day after and shouting “RAPE!!” ant the courtrooms?

Why havent women´s rights movements sticked to fight for inequity alone, instead of trampling men´s rights also?

It was significant at the time, how the law dealt harshly with any women who defended herself with any kind of weapon.