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Phoebe Minson's avatar

5 seconds that I can't stop replaying and focusing on each of their faces. Three distinct stages that you've articulated so clearly here. 1) being spoken over 2) saying an obvious truth 3) having to break the silence caused. It's so painful, it conjures up every twilight commute, every time I've taken out an earphone or muted a podcast, every line imprinted into my palm from keys. Every time I thought, is this it? Even the nice guys hey. I wonder what it's like to have your experiences taken seriously? I hope we find out in our lifetime!! Thank you for sharing x

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Emily Ash Powell's avatar

i hope we find them in our lifetime too! what a wonderful spark of hope to end on. let’s hope we do ❤️

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Flore for Thought's avatar

Your article made me realize that men don’t ever share they location with their friends when they go on a date … we live such different lives to them …

Loved this.

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Cristina Carmona Aliaga's avatar

I've just come across this post but I did remember watching this the day after it happened and feeling shocked and embarrassed that even those seemingly nice guys had zero clue about what women have to go through these days. Well done Saorsie but speaking up but why does always have to be the woman stating the obvious? Paul Mescal does look like a nice person and he has a sister with whom he seems to be very close, and even he was completely oblivious to the realities of being a woman so expecting most men to understand what we have to go through simply to ensure our safety on a daily basis consumes too much mental energy.

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Michaella Parkes's avatar

Loved this. Important message. Great writing.

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katie morley's avatar

YES YES YES. You articulated this so beautifully and I am SO glad that someone wrote this post 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

I love how viral this clip went because it resonated with so many women who have been talked over, diminished, and assaulted. Our experience is so universal it’s terrifying - the only thing that will genuinely change anything is MEN doing something about it. MEN caring as much about women’s rights as women do. MEN checking their friends. MEN checking their privilege.

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Abi Payet's avatar

You took all the unarticulated words from my mouth Emily, so well said, thank you for sharing x

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Riot Grrl's avatar

'Following Ronan’s example, may I make myself a little unsafe here and break up the back-slapping by pointing out the elephant in the room? Because if you’re going to jump on that circus train and start clapping like a performing seal about women’s safety, male privilege, and male violence, then you’re admitting you know what a woman is, and what a man is, and what sex is, and why women want and need safe spaces away from men. And yet this is a position that is consistently framed as pearl-clutching bigotry. So: which is it to be? Do you believe that male people pose a threat to female people, or don’t you?'

Now it's time to read this: https://millihill.substack.com/p/if-you-think-saoirse-ronan-is-right

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Conor Daedalus's avatar

When I saw the clip, my first thought was that the men were ridiculing the idea of using a phone in self defence because it's fanciful to think a phone is a good weapon, that they were expressing confusion as to who would think a phone makes a useful weapon when it doesn't. I didn't for a second think any of the men thought women aren't concerned about their safety on a daily basis, just that they thought it silly to suggest a phone as a useful weapon

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