So I got felt up on the bus the other day by this old creepy ex drug dealer from my town. Like full on stroking my leg. I was wearing a full length black maxi dress, feet covered, barely any part of my body could be seen cause it was late and getting cold and I wanted to get home. This may not seem like a big deal. However. This has never happened to me. I have perfected the "sit by me and you're going to get hurt" look so that unless there are no other seats no one sits next to me. There were 8 of us on the bus. I know it's not that big a deal, I handled it by drawing everyone's attention to the fact that I felt uncomfortable. But it's that invasion of my personal space by someone that has always made my skin crawl. It makes you feel violated and unclean. I can only imagine how rape victims of all genders feel. The single-most worst aspect was that my mother just looked at me dispassionately and told me to get over it. That it was nothing. That it happens all the time so why should it bother me. It shouldn't happen all the time. Women should NOT have to live in fear on public transport during daylight hours of getting effectively molested. We should not have to justify why we feel so disgusted. We should not have to mention our clothing, how much skin was showing, how flirtatious we looked. We should be treated like people. So this, lades and gentlemen, is why I need feminism.