Men in public spaces feel more dangerous than ever since the pandemic

You hit the nail on the head. I myself started to wonder if it’s something about me, since I often get this kind of negative attention. Of course, it’s not about me, it's about them, but yeah. I should’ve worded this part better - I never felt completely safe, because living as a woman taught me that shit can go down any second. But it was never the “I’ll punch you in the face if you insist on your boundaries” kind of danger. I feel like they used to be more sneaky about their ill intentions, because they wanted sex from women. Now it’s almost like they don’t even care about that part - they just want to straight-up hurt women.

And thank you 🫂

I consider you so lucky, then, because all the way back to HS I had men violently popping off at me for asserting boundaries! Even "friends" when they realized I wouldn't sleep with them. Then I moved and same thing happened in college. Then I moved from the west to the east coast and it continued on. Meanwhile traveling to Mexico, Central America and it kept going. Traveled Europe, Canada, it kept going... and then living in Australia where they are absurdly friendly, and random men there popped off at me, too... usually they were drunk. And I'm talking about the full pop offs in all these scenarios where they get crazy looks in their eyes and you're afraid they might hit you. Then I moved back and men I had known and trusted for years did it, too.

Men are super angry creatures! Don't underestimate that. It happened so much that I internalized it a lot by the time I hit my late 20s. I really thought, not that it was my fault, but that I must have "something about me..." I don't. Men are sincerely angry and it is nothing new. When we say they are depraved this is what we mean. They will haul off on random women. Heck, they kill random women for fun!

Not sure of your age, but in my mid to late 20s I thought a lot like that "Something must be happening, they seem to be getting worse" and this was all pre covid... but it's not true. I was just waking up to the reality of what men are and gaining enough experience as an adult woman to see the real truth. But that road and that waking up was actually hard on me. It's really unsettling and left me feeling very, very unsafe. I think by the time I hit about 33 I had a fully grip on it and just an "acceptance" of this stuff. It is just the world and it is just men, unfortunately.. and women can never be too careful.

My dad warned me about the violence of men my whole life, and while I always took him seriously, I truly had no idea how widespread it really is.. that took aging and experience to see the full scope for myself. My dad wasn't lying and I see now why he tried to beat that into my head so hard. It will be your friends, neighbors, your men at the local pub. Honestly, nobody is to be trusted, unfortunately... this is, I think, the major burden of being a woman in general. It is a lot to carry and another reason why we deserve actual GOLD treatment from men we date. We put up with too much s* out in the world....

I honestly don’t understand how women feel safe meeting up with random men. Any one of them could turn into a psychopath in a split second, let alone hooking up with them. You just never know what they are capable of.

It's the pickmeism 🤷‍♀️

Remember how the biggest warning with the onset of the internet was "Don't meet up with strangers on there..." then somehow it became the main way women and people date??? Seems sus and like an actual long con, to me.