Women have been harassed by men at the bar and club since the dawn of time. Men do not seem to notice that women are not interested in them, so they are persistent and, oftentimes, relentless in their ways.
I went out to a few bars and clubs in Miami with my sisters and decided to try five different ways to ignore and/or turn down any guy that tried to talk to me. It was interesting and quite the experiment. Here are the techniques and tactics I found successful, in case you're looking for a way to stop being harassed any time you go out:
Repeat everything they say and act like you can't understand them.
This was way more amusing and fun than anything else. First, I tried it on a friend of my sister's, just to make sure it would work, then I tried it on a strangely-dressed guy that was following me around. He came up to me and tried to tell me that he liked my outfit, so I repeated what he said, but changed a few things around. "You like my shit? Ohhh, my shirt? You think my ears are nice? Ohhh, my eyes?" Then I decided to act like I didn't understand anything he said, so I just kept asking "What? Huh? I'm sorry, I can't understand you." He got tired of my act and walked away.
Funny and entertaining, definitely bothersome. 9/10.
Make weird faces.
My first technique was to make weird faces in an attempt to ward off any would-be harasser. I was standing by the bar with my sister, and this barely-21-year-old college tool kept walking past me and gawking at me. On his third lap, he stopped, looked me up and down, and smiled. I made the weirdest face I could while looking past him and he slowly backed away.
This was a solid reaction. 8/10 would use again.
Blatantly ignore them.
My favorite tactic... works all the time. I got tired of trying to turn guys down, so I decided to just ignore them. At one bar, my sister was chatting with a friend of hers. I busied myself reading the craft cocktail menu, but I noticed there was a guy across the bar that had been looking at me, so I kept looking at the ceiling or looking away. I used this tactic with a few other guys who kept staring at me or leaning next to me at the bar.
Easy and effortless. 8/10 for minimal effort.
Coughing, sneezing, or pretending to be sick.
Another technique that I had hoped would work, but it took a bit more effort.
Two guys were circling around my sister and I, so we started coughing and sneezing and pretended to be sick. One guy approached me, but didn't say anything. I coughed aggressively into the air, then rubbed my nose a few times and said, "ugh, I think my mono is coming back." He still stood next to me, then asked me what my name was. I faked a sneeze, rubbed my nose on the back of my hand, and said, "I'm sorry, the mono is really bad today." He shrugged and played it off, but turned and looked away.
I would have liked for him to have walked away, but at least he didn't talk to me again. 7/10 because it requires effort.
Screeching or screaming, or making any strange noise.
This tactic was a little trickier since the harasser had to be within earshot to hear the noise. As I stood at the bar waiting for my drink, a creepy guy stood next to me, constantly looking at me and taking deep breaths. He leaned in and asked me how I was doing, so I let out a small squeal. He didn't hear it, so I let out a louder sound, a mix between a squealing pig and a squawk. He seemed disturbed and looked away.
Not the best reaction, but he definitely didn't try to talk to me again. 6/10.
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