A dude deliberately dive bombed on top of me at the pool yesterday, and I’m still thinking about it as an entry for my thesis: the only people men see as human are other men, & those presenting as women are viewed as objects.
This is such a regular occurrence that it’s not the first time this year.
It’s fascinating to me because it’s the same at a macro level; the only thing that curbs dehumanising behaviour from men is other men; the only people impacted by the behaviour are women and girls.
Being an object, it does not matter if I am injured physically; it means my complaint can be ignored.
It also means that other men are centred at all times - in already occupied space, in conversation, in media.
It means their voices and physicality are considered as the only thing that needs to be considered (see manels, crash test dummies, medical trials, every opinion piece in mainstream media).
If you’re a man sitting there not all men-ing this thread consider that your active allyship and listening can create and influence change, and it is more than likely your voice has a key role in stopping the consistent behaviour that is the lived experience of every woman and girl on the planet.
/
Feb 2, 2026 19:03(Yes, I called out the behaviour and he sneered at me, got out of the pool & strutted off, and yes, the only thing that stopped him and the other dude who watched the first guy doing it and thought it looked fun, from doing it again was the male lifeguard who came and stood at the side of the pool.)
