Definition: Given a real-life anecdote of a complex ethical situation, generate a suitable title that describes the main event/root cause of the situation. Imagine that the given text is a social media post, and you have to write the title of the post, so the users can decide to read the main text or not.
Input: Last weekend my partner and I costumed up and attended renfest with some friends. A female friend and I stepped to the side to take some pictures at a photo op station in the ‘tavern’. A presumably drunk male came up and was hovering around me while I was trying to arrange my skirt and boots talking about how he was getting turned on looking at me. At some point he even put his hands on my thigh/boots. I was uncomfortable and exchanged looks with my friend but we just ignored him and go on with our picture taking. 

I told my partner about this when we got back home and he was upset that I didn’t bring the creep to his attention as it was happening less than 8ft away from him. He stated that by not immediately speaking out or reacting with anger I’m only enabling these guys and they’ll keep doing it to other people. He feels like I need to assert myself more in those situations or at the very least call for him so he could confront the guy. I can get angry after the fact and I get upset with myself for not being angrier during the interaction but It just never occurred to me to bring my BF into the situation. It was like I existed in a bubble and all I saw was myself, my friend and I was desperately trying to ignore this guy out of existence. 

When these situations happen I just freeze up, I’m uncomfortably passive and I wish I could react with fire but I don’t. Last time it happened I was separated from him in the grocery aisle and a man came up to me trying to start conversation, standing really close and touching my shirt. I froze and my eyes were scanning around looking for my partner while I maintained cordial conversation. The man buggered off once my partner returned (partner didn’t know what was going on, he literally walked up and the other guy disengaged, there was no confrontation). 

My partner doesn’t really get mad AT me but he does express that I need to stand up for myself in those situations. I feel like it’s easier for him to say, he’s 6’5 with broad shoulders whereas I’m 5’1 and have a racial passive of ‘creep attraction’. 

AITA for not standing up for myself and enabling these creeps into thinking their actions are okay? 


not asserting myself/alerting my bf when men are being creeps