Women & Negative Interaction on the Trails

[AFHokie]

I wanted to ask the women on here; how often do you encounter poor behavior from men while on the trails? I’m asking because yet again my girlfriend experienced another “creepy” interaction while out jogging and she’s starting to wonder if it’s some sort of ‘vibe’ she’s giving off, reading too much into their demeanor or simply the fact she’s a woman alone.

Today a guy (maybe early 30’s) wearing street clothes on a bike passed her & then turned around to follow a few feet behind her for about a quarter of a mile while she was jogging through Barcroft Park this afternoon. Every time she turned to look back at him, he was staring at her. From her description he slow pedaled about three feet behind & to her left (placing himself on the wrong side of the trail) until she encountered another woman near where the trail meets George Mason and felt safe enough to stop forcing him to pass.

She typically runs on the 4MRT or the WOD & on average seems to experience some variation of a cat call, rude gesture, leering, or other inappropriate behavior from men while out jogging on the trail. She’s not dressed any different than any other woman running on the trail & she’s started to wonder if it’s how she’s carrying herself or something about her specifically that invites the behavior. I think its simply guys being assholes to a woman who happens to be alone. Unsurprisingly none of this ever happens if I’m with her.

Topic

[baiskeli]

@Judd 138495 wrote:

Having never been passed on a trail by Wheels & Wings,

Keep up the pace, because she’s right on your trail and she’s bound to pass you soon.

[baiskeli]

@jabberwocky 138460 wrote:

Its nicely illustrative of the core problem that a thread about the crap women deal with (sometimes on a daily basis) gets turned around to be about how hard men actually have it. :rolleyes:

I was waiting for someone to say that. I don’t think that’s quite what it has turned around into though.

[KLizotte]

Well, I’m gonna take the opposite approach and say THANKS to every guy (and gal, but they are usually guys) that has ever stopped to help me with a repair or directions. When I first started biking I had a lot of mechanical issues because I didn’t know what I was doing. Those guys saved my butt and did it cheerfully to boot. If a guy offers to fix my flat I will definitely take him up on it cause I am terrible at it.

Long live chivalry!

[kjdtarheel]

@jabberwocky 138170 wrote:

This thread makes me sad.

As a small consolation, I did witness a guy on a road bike crash while turning to ogle a woman jogger on the W&OD several years ago. Occasionally karma does its thing.

Saw a similar thing on the W&OD last year – between MP 4.5-5 – Guy slow riding behind a woman jogger and filming it on his phone. He was so absorbed in his creepiness he ran straight into a lamppost. While he probably didn’t learn a thing, you never know.

[Raymo853]

@baiskeli 138542 wrote:

I’m talking about plain old sexism against men. It can be just as damaging, not that it really matters – it’s still wrong. Certainly women suffer more sexism overall, and of course we should solve both. But the harm goes both ways – in my example, pressure on men not to care for children hurts women by perpetuating the inverse (that women should take on the bulk of childcare). So yeah, it’s all one big cauldron of sexism stew in the grand scheme of things.

Baiskeli, you are simply nucking futs. If you consider the sexism men experience (judged less trustworthy around children, not being able to watch little league games alone, being depicted as dumb in entertainment media…) as anything compared to what women have to go through (patting your ass is a compliment, feeling obligated to engage in sex in many situations, slut shaming & simultaneous restraint shaming, radically higher sexual assault rates …) you are nucking futs. Even the “anti-feminism/anti-SJW” guys like Milo Yiannopoulos, Gavin Mcinnes and yea even Roosh, would never say it equal.

[creadinger]

@kjdtarheel 138625 wrote:

Saw a similar thing on the W&OD last year – between MP 4.5-5 – Guy slow riding behind a woman jogger and filming it on his phone. He was so absorbed in his creepiness he ran straight into a lamppost. While he probably didn’t learn a thing, you never know.

FILMING?! WTF. I think karma in that scenario would have been riding off the trail and falling into the stream, which would have been several feet down and with lots of rocks. He got off easy with the lamp post. Right? That’s the stretch where you have the stream on one side, and the I-66 wall on the other?

How women don’t carry bear spray and an 8″ knife with them at all times, I’ll never know.

[Tania]

@creadinger 138651 wrote:

How women don’t carry bear spray and an 8″ knife with them at all times, I’ll never know.

What makes you think we don’t?

[Harry Meatmotor]

side story:

Went to grab a repair out of the racks. Cool looking track bike, obviously well loved. Reached up to grab the seat tube to unhook the bike from the ceiling rack, and came about an inch from grabbing the business end of an 8″ dive knife strapped to the seat tube. Looked down at the ticket, female name.

[dkel]

@Tania 138654 wrote:

What makes you think we don’t?

Based on some of the creepy behavior detailed in this thread, I’d think there would be lots more “accidents” if you did…

[baiskeli]

@Raymo853 138640 wrote:

Baiskeli, you are simply nucking futs. If you consider the sexism men experience (judged less trustworthy around children, not being able to watch little league games alone, being depicted as dumb in entertainment media…) as anything compared to what women have to go through (garbing your ass is a compliment, feeling obligated to engage in sex in many situations, radically higher sexual assault rates …) you are nucking futs. Even the “anti-feminism/anti-SJW” guys like Milo Yiannopoulos, Gavin Mcinnes and yea even Roosh, would never say it equal.

Did I say it was equal?

No.

I guess I wasn’t clear enough. No, I’m not saying it is equal. Of course it isn’t. It goes without saying that it isn’t equal.

So, having read that, maybe my words will be more clear.

I concede that I am still nucking futs though.

[AlexandriaBiker]

I suggest this thread get pinned to the top of the topic or the top of the forum. Unacceptable behavior.

How do we make that happen?

Bob Trencheny

@AlexandriaBiker
Alexandria Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Virginia Bicycling Federation

[83b]

@Tania 138654 wrote:

What makes you think we don’t?

I’d sort of resolved not to open this thread again, but man am I glad I did. It now meets and exceeds my recommended daily dosage of guffaw.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I’ll just leave this here.
https://mobile.twitter.com/srpeatling/status/717966174298857472

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Judd]

@AlexandriaBiker 139000 wrote:

I suggest this thread get pinned to the top of the topic or the top of the forum. Unacceptable behavior.

How do we make that happen?

How do we make unacceptable behavior happen or how do we make this forum topic sticky?

[Raymo853]

Based on some of the posts in this thread, I am not sure it should be promoted to a sticky. Maybe a better discussion ….. hmm, maybe I am reconsidering this. Highlighting where the discussion went might be important.

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[Author]

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