Tonya

As a young woman and teen, I had 3 different men, who were much older than me, grab me by the shoulders and kiss me right on the mouth. Men who I’d shown absolutely no interest in dating or even flirting with. two were coworkers, one was a family member. I’ve had boyfriends force sex on me, but since we were dating, they made me feel like I owed it to them. I didn’t fight back, just sort of let it happen because it was easier to just sort of check out than to fight it. Of course I’ve had the usual catcalling, stalking, and unwanted conversations and inappropriate (even disgusting) messages. But above all that, I think what bothers me the most, is the way men talk to me like I’m an idiot. The majority of my female coworkers and bosses have been very supportive and talk to me like an adult, listen to what I have to say and genuinely consider my input. But the men at my workplace now treat me like a dingbat. One specifically loves to interrupt me, shoot down my ideas, and just generally reject any sort of intellectual input I have, even though I have almost 15 years of experience in my field now.