News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:France Bans Street Harassment, Approving Hefty Fines for ... by TheAceOfHearts on Friday August 03, 2018 @03:45AM (#17677984)
I dunno about you, but I actually enjoy being able to speak to strangers at the metro without getting labelled a harasser. I'd be happy to speak with any of those demographics that you mentioned during a trip. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't engage with a young child, outside of smiling at them, because I'd be worried of being labelled a sex offender of some sort, despite the fact that I would never even come close to considering doing something like that. I'm a male, so I do enjoy engaging with attractive women, but I don't limit my interactions to them. Now it turns out I can only engage with anyone EXCEPT women? Do you really fail to see how that could also be harmful to women? Have you really never made a new friend while on a train?

I've seen a lot of negative news about France lately, that it's getting to the point that I might never see myself visting there, despite knowing it would probably have lot to offer in terms of experiences. Where do you draw the line? I think I'm a fairly reasonable individual, and if I speak with someone I'll cut it short if they seem uncomfortable... But it seems pretty crazy that you could have someone call the cops on you just for striking up a conversation.

Re:France Bans Street Harassment, Approving Hefty Fines for ... by Broken_Hippo on Friday August 03, 2018 @04:10AM (#17678071)
If you greet them with similar intros, especially with non-sexual topics, great. Take cues when the chatter isn't welcome and stop? Great. Things like this and you are safe. Bonus points if you apologise.

Seriously, cat-calling is a different beast entirely. nothing like walking down the street to pass a group of men who exclaim very loudly, "Well, she was ugly in front but look at that ass!"

I had a customer literally drool forget his sentences every time he saw me. He'd follow me around the store and talk to me. Other folks would step in. He left me a card - at work! - telling me he'd stop, but also exclaiming how sexy I was and how much he adored me. I had asked him to stop. He had noticed I disappeared when he came into the store. He finally did stop, but it took months of discomfort.

I had a boss that would "accidentally" brush up against my breasts or ass. Small place with no recourse, and I had to quit.

There is a lot of area between these two, and I think it should be quite obvious that they are wrong, but it happens nonetheless. There is a huge difference between a nice chat or nicely asking someone out in a way that respects them and this sort of stuff. Save for the one dude that probably thought I was a prostitute, folks in Amsterdam treated me better (I was there for a fun weekend alone, spouse stayed home) - including the dude that propositioned me after chatting in the coffee shop. He was really respectful and simply asked. I talk to random people on planes and other places willingly. Most conversation is fine so long as the other person is reasonable, and halts when I ask the conversation to stop.

Re:France Bans Street Harassment, Approving Hefty Fines for ... by Bertio on Friday August 03, 2018 @04:17AM (#17678095)
You might try imaginging what the metro experience is like for women. Your perspective is very self centered and not as reasonable as you think.