From navigating busy security lines to dealing with delays and cancellations,air travel can involve a lot of stresseven before you board the plane. But sometimes the challenges don’t end at the airport; they can persist throughout the journey.
When Reddit userSoftestlilbabwas sixteen years old and flying to meet her dad, she ended up sitting in a row with a stranger who got increasingly interested in her as the trip went on. Learning that the girl was a minor didn’t stop him either.
As the woman explained on the subreddit ‘Entitled People,’ eventually, it got so bad that the only way she thought she could get out of the uncomfortable situation was to report the man to the crew. So she did.
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This teenager was traveling alone, so her dad booked her an extra seat
Image credits:nateemee / envatoelements (not the actual photo)
But that didn’t stop a creepy man from hitting on the minor
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Image credits:svitlanah / envatoelements (not the actual photo)
Image credits:Softestlilbab
Sadly, unsolicited male attention is part of growing up for many young women
We got in touch with Softestlilbab and she said this wasn’t the only time when she received unwanted attention from older men while she was growing up.
“I was 13 when a man offered my dad lobola [a gift in some African cultures that the groom’s family gives to the bride’s family as a thank you for raising her] for me in a shopping center,” the Redditor toldBored Panda. “And I’ve experienced so many more. Older men have no shame.”
Softestlilbab told her family and friends about the incident and she had some mixed reactions. “My immediate family was very protective and upset (I have 3 brothers) but I also had my one family member comment, ‘Well, maybe you shouldn’t have been wearing a little dress on the plane,'” the Redditor recalled. “But I was not, I had changed before meeting them after landing; I was in sweatpants and a hoodie on the flight.”
Image credits:Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)
This incident is indicative of a broader problem. Moira Donegan, who is a writer in residence for the Clayman Institute, where she, among many things, teaches a class in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies, says that for too many girls, teenage years are a time of unwanted attention from older men.
“Male attention creeps in at the edges of a young girl’s consciousness before she quite knows what it means,” sheexplains. “For my own part, I have a vivid memory of my mother dragging me out of a corner store after a man had been following me up and down the aisles; I was maybe 12.”
“Before that, a different man once approached me in a bookstore, where I was hunched over a book about a girl wizard, and asked if I wanted to take a walk with him. I was nine.”
Clinical mental health counselor Lisa Leshawagrees. She says that we live in a society that is obsessed with physicality, and the objectification of girls that stems from it can have dire long-term consequences on their self-esteem.
She says that we cannot minimize these experiences and write them off as “part of life.” Instead, we need to send a clear message that their feelings are valid, the incident was not their fault, and their boundaries deserve respect.
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