It could be an overtly –friendly smile from the old sleazy neighbor who may insist on inspecting your outfit as you step into your car.
It could be the big black tinted Range Rover that will drive parallel to you for a good ten minutes, blocking traffic only to pull down his window and graphically explain to you how we would like to have his way with you.
When he’s finally gone you somehow end up behind a pick-up truck full of men seated in the back, who won’t miss a chance to stare, wave, and laugh. Behavior similar to that of predators in a jungle informing the rest of the hungry pack that they spotted the prey of the day.
It could be the parking guy who leaves other parking cars struggling only to suddenly land right in front of your car door just in case you were to flash some skin as you made your rough exit. Sometimes you even swear he makes you park so close to other cars because he secretly enjoys watching you wrestle your way out.
It could be the nasty cab driver that won’t let you cross the street because he keeps honking at you for a ride, and when you finally tell him to MOVE, he’ll yell out a profanity.
It could be the car that finally stops to allow you to cross the street, only to see a guy and his buddy high-fiving each other and winking at you as you scruffily make your way to the sidewalk.
You finally enter the office, a big sigh of relief; you’re finally away from the zoo out there only to be greeted by the company driver who decides to give you the final inspection of the day as his gaze locks on your chest and says “ Bonjour Ya Amar keefna ilyom.?”
It could be you. So you hurry to the closest mirror, convinced you may be experiencing some sort of wardrobe malfunction, but you’re actually wearing a full-out pantsuit.
So thanks to our heroes at the Ministry Of Tourism, sexual harassment may just triple this summer, since they’re now promoting Lebanese women in their campaigns to lure in more “hungry” male tourists! If you haven’t watched the joke of an AD titled Lebanon Blues please do here
Baby Luca’s Chocolates by Boite Sucrée
Serendipity on the Seine
The Other Side Of Myriam Faris
Nice post, I can understand what a girl feels when she encounters all these sorts of harrasment but there are sometimes a genuine feel or look from a guy in the next car or on the street to express that he likes the girl or he finds her cute…sure it is the responsability og the guys to be polite and respectful, but we can’t call for a NO-LOOK or NO-CONTACT society, it’s good from time to time to see someone looking at you or me, I hate it when in some European countries you walk unseen or hidden…
apparently Germans disagree! LOOOOOOOOL
@yawmiyyat there is a difference between being checked out and being oggled/followed/harassed for no other reason than having tits (the female kind). It’s never OK for a guy to do that no matter what the woman is wearing, there is no excuse. It’s a lack of self-respect and education.
Sara7a dunno what to say, enno talking about myself sometimes I feel obliged to take a look and appreciate the beauty of some girls…I agree that the main issue is how we look and how we react and I agree that it’s a mater of education and self respect.
woow that’s so much ahaha lebanese are crazy!!
On the other hand I sometimes feel that if i don’t check a girl out, it’s insulting to her because she will feel unappreciated, so i pretend I’m eying her:P
I think alot of women appreciate a glimpse or bit attraction, but that disgusting oggling that lands on a body part while wearing you’re elder brother’s T-shirt, on your worst hairday and grumpy mood, literally dissecting every curve that pretends to show through your overly sized cloth!!! *ugh* *runs and hides in the closet*
what about when you gorgeous girls gets old?
nobody is always 25
This is a great post Ivy. I am a Lebanese guy and I recognize how messed up it is to stare at women but for some reason I can’t stop it. I remember when I was younger I used to avert my gaze and look somewhere else, then my uncle took me aside one day and said if I like what I see I should give it a good stare, all this shuffling and shifting just wont do. Now I can’t stop, whenever a hot girl crosses my path I find it extremely difficult to not look at her. I realize how demeaning it is and I feel sleazy but it’s like ignoring the elephant in the room. I’d have to try really hard NOT to stare. When I try to not look I just end up feeling ridiculous trying to find somewhere to rest my eyes where they wont dart for a good viewing. I end up looking like some kind of serial killer scizo. So Ivy you point to a very important and offensive habit in our culture and like all habits it’s hard to break. It won’t matter what the girl is wearing really, it’s just something habitual and I guess a lot of guys derive some form of subconscious comfort and obviously a sense of power from doing it, aside from getting a rise. As in all bad habits (addiction maybe) the first step to breaking it is acknowledging a problem exists, but where do you go from there?
I’m not a Lebanese woman,,but I feel the same pain!! Even walking down the street in shabby gym clothes has become an uncomfortable!
Grandma u dont have to be hot to get stared at. Men will stare at anything with legs
Ok Ivy! we got it! you are very hot and all the guys look at you
I really do agree, BUT after having spent three years of my life in Paris, it’s a blessing to walk around in heels and shorts in Beirut because the sleaziness here is a passive. Most men will just stare without stopping, mumble the sound of a random letter (eg: a, e, s) or at the most make barking sounds at my dog – none of which are pleasant but it’s not aggressive. Very few of these men will actually approach you directly so if you keep cool and curse at/ignore it you will be okay.
In Paris on the other hand you experience the active or aggressive sleaziness which means that you can’t so much as look at someone and tell them to leave you alone without risking to be followed and harassed all the way to your destination.
So I happily walk around in cut-off shorts and heels here because as long as I manage to ignore the staring, I’m fine 🙂
I know exactly how you feel, I go through this everyday 🙁
I don’t know what’s going on in our society most men have lost all respect and manners,
As if women are no human beings with feelings, rather are treated like sex objects, it’s such a shame,
Because it shows how much intellect and morals are in decay, and the worst part is that no one is doing anything about it,
I therefore think that this matter of sexual harrasment should be taken seriously before it becomes no longer under control, because believe me a man who is capable of staring at a woman in a nasty disgusting way he would be capable of doing more when the chance presents itself.
i’m a guy and like you am uncomfortable when a girl stares.
the thing is that they want u to know they are staring and if u look they turn away, so its a catch me if you can game.
but some are cool about it… they smile, they asnwer if u talk or raise ur glass and that makes me feel good.
so similarly, when i see a beautifull girl i look and i smile and the cool ones smile back and that’s the end of it.
It’s all the Lebanese possessive men’s fault ,they’re overly aggressive in Lebanon so I will wear my high heels proudly