Background: Recently I told you about a new New York bill which would make staring at women a crime. I wrote:

"I agree that in some cases staring at women can be rude. Making it a crime is quite another matter. I would also add that some women do everything they possibly can so men will look at them. Or if that's not their intent, they sure make it seem that way."

Sheba Jones, a reader, had an interesting comment on this issue. Sheba wrote:

"Ladies, keep in mind you can't pick and choose who gets to see your butt when you wear a short skirt to try and impress the boss or the hunk in the mailroom. If you're that worried about it, wear something else. You can't always depend on someone else to be polite and not look when it's right in their face."

This seems very fair to me. Much of what women complain about is not that men are looking at them, but instead that the wrong man is looking at them. It's not fair to condemn male onlookers for this (within reason), particularly since a man usually doesn't know whether he's the right man or the wrong man.

I offer for example the picture above. The woman is clearly dressed to bring as much sexual attention to herself as possible. She goes a little overboard for my tastes, but what man wouldn't look? And why shouldn't he? And what does she have to complain about?

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 11:05 am and is filed under Gender Issues (Misc.), Bills/Initiatives, Elections, Politics, Court Cases. You can trackback from your own site.