Honestly it didn't occur to me to think of it as unusual, for all that I was posting about it; I was amused that the number had gone up so quickly, but the fact that it happens at all is so common to all women I know it didn't occur to me men might not be aware it happens. Fielding incidents like this (and this one was super mild, obviously) is so commonplace a thing that it takes no thought, it's like scratching an itch or scrubbing a counter, you do it so often it's instinct. Or my automatically taking a hairtie out of my hair (too easy to grab in a ponytail) and not wearing headphones when I'm walking down my street alone after dark, or crossing to the other side if there are men walking on the same street. It's as habitual as breathing.

And, of course, it shouldn't have to be. But yeah, we think about this stuff all the time, it's ingrained. And that would be why when the more clueless types try to insist rape culture isn't a thing, we go bang our heads against walls. And I have it *so* easy, I've never been really assaulted (....And I've just qualified that with 'really' and realised it's debateable, huh), I don't get shouted out on the street, frankly I'm a lot more likely to get insulted about my weight then propositioned. Which is partly why I was weirdly *flattered* by suddenly having all these friend requests, based solely on a picture of my face, even though it's a really pretty weird thing to do.

....in short: patriarchy, man. It's​ a stinker.