It's *amazing* the difference personal experience makes.
Two examples.
1. In an online chat I changed my handle to someone that could be *perceived* as female (if you *really* weren't paying attention). And I got immediately bombarded with private messages ranging from annoying to ...
2. Due to poor planning I had to walk half a mile on dark streets from a local TV/TG group meeting to a bus stop. While en femme. When I encountered a group of guys, I suddenly understood *exactly* how women walking alone at night feel.
Intellectual knowledge is one thing, but stuff like that goes clear to your *bones*.
Though the incidents have also proved useful in explaining things to other folks. Telling someone that women are afraid of assault is one thing. Telling them how *you* were afraid of rape or *worse* and why tends to get thru a *bit* better.
Alas, you still get a lot of the unspoken "I belong to [class] so I don't have to worry about that" attitude. Though it does help if you can get them to realize that they *have* that attitude even if they weren't consciously aware of it.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Well ...
Date: 2021-10-04 06:25 am (UTC)Two examples.
1. In an online chat I changed my handle to someone that could be *perceived* as female (if you *really* weren't paying attention). And I got immediately bombarded with private messages ranging from annoying to ...
2. Due to poor planning I had to walk half a mile on dark streets from a local TV/TG group meeting to a bus stop. While en femme. When I encountered a group of guys, I suddenly understood *exactly* how women walking alone at night feel.
Intellectual knowledge is one thing, but stuff like that goes clear to your *bones*.
Though the incidents have also proved useful in explaining things to other folks. Telling someone that women are afraid of assault is one thing. Telling them how *you* were afraid of rape or *worse* and why tends to get thru a *bit* better.
Alas, you still get a lot of the unspoken "I belong to [class] so I don't have to worry about that" attitude. Though it does help if you can get them to realize that they *have* that attitude even if they weren't consciously aware of it.