“Me too.”

Two little words with monumental meaning that have aggressively fueled a full on & much needed movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault in 2017.

The #MeToo movement is no joking matter. Sexual harassment and sexual assault are now at the front and center of countless high profile conversations and I commend every single individual who has truthfully come forward to share their story.

What I think has taken many aback about this movement, is the sheer number of victims involved as well as the high profile offenders.

Harvey Weinstein. David Mueller. Kevin Spacey. Louis CK. Matt Lauer. The list goes on.

MILLIONS have been affected. Myself included. With that said, I am not on the severe side of the spectrum when speaking on this topic (and for that, I know I am v lucky).

There are two forms of sexual harassment and sexual assault that have been prevalent in my life for years. Let’s discuss.

1. Sexual Harassment - Social Media

Sexual harassment via social media is the form of harassment I personally see and experience most frequently. Why? To put it simply, creeps get SUPER ballsy when they can hide behind technology.

When someone sends a message over a computer or phone, the in-person interaction is taken away which can make people more brazen. Sexual harassers utilizing technology to send their creepy messages can’t see your shocked or disgusted reaction when reading their message (the shame is more or less taken out of the experience for them).

Would these creeps slithering into your DMs speak so inappropriately to you in person? I would hope not (then again, who knows for sure).

When I first started receiving sexually harassing messages on Instagram, I simply blocked whoever the sender was. When I started receiving these messages more and more frequently, it got to a point where I stopped blocking these weirdos for the sole purpose of seeing how long someone would continue on a crude rant with no engagement. Result of that study? A LONG TIME.

There is one individual in particular, let’s call him Lester (because his name needs to be v creepy, you’ll find out why momentarily), that has been messaging me since December 20, 2015 with no response from my end.

I have picked out some screenshots of this disturbing, albeit comical (with selected GIFs) of this message thread to share with you.

Warning, the screenshots ahead are unedited & very graphic. We are trying to bring awareness to the issue of sexual harassment, and it's an ugly topic:

Like lol?????? What in the actual f*ck?

Prominent tubercle???

Try to be creepier Lester, I dare ya. The little heart he sends at the end certainly doesn’t help his case.

This was Lester’s very first message to me. No hello. No introduction. No social nicety’s of any sort. He went from 0 to sexual harassment in a matter of sentences with a complete stranger. & you know he has to be doing this to 3,137,648,732 other girls with the nonchalant-ness of it all.

This message was the beginning of Lester’s sexual harassment onslaught.

HAHAHAHAHAHA. YOU GUYS.

It’s like he’s trying to speak English, I just know it!!!

Trees?! Protons?!! Neutrons?!!! A wagon train of electrons???!!!! I can’t lol.

“I feel like dead inside. Not like dead…but like soul.”

This guy might be the most articulate individual I’ve ever encountered.

So. Much. No.

Ahhh yes, the awkward sewer world. I hear it’s v nice this time of year.

I’ll spare you the rest of the messages.

What’s v disturbing about all of this is that this behavior seems to be completely normal from Lester’s perspective.

My question to you - has social media normalized this kind of sexual harassment?

2. Sexual Assault – The Butt Grab

Ohhhhh, Lord help me with the infamous butt grab.

If you are a guy or girl that goes out to the bars and grabs someone’s butt, seriously, f*ck off. You are the actual worst.

If you are out and about and get your butt grabbed, DO NOT endure this annoyance quietly; ESPECIALLY if you’re in a public place where there are people that can help you!

If the butt grab happens at a bar, most bouncers will kick the creep out for you. Legit all you have to do is find the bar’s bouncer, tell them who grabbed you, and they’ll escort the grabber out.

If a bouncer isn’t an option, don’t be afraid tell your friends if someone grabs you. I can’t tell you on how many occasions my guy friends have put creeps in their place because they grabbed myself or my friends.

One night we were standing outside of a club after bar close, waiting for our Uber, and this guy found it fit to grab my butt. I turned around and confrontationally asked the handsy perv, “Did you just grab my butt?”

This twerp has the nerve to reply “Ya, what are you going to do about it?”

I ran and grabbed my friend (for anonymity, let’s call my friend Joey) and told him what happened.

Joey instantaneously goes up to the creep and asks: “Did you just grab her butt?!”

The creep repeats himself, louder this time: “YA. What are YOU going to do about it?!”

Well, Joey was going to do something lol, I can tell ya that much.

Joey grabbed this guy, put him in a headlock, threw him to the ground, and then kicked him.

Right. In. The. Face.

^^^ real footage of me watching this go down lol.

Moral of this story?

Touching someone without their consent is NEVER ok. Go grab your own butt and spare the world your BS…or Joey will kick you… in the face lol.

To all the men and women out there who stand up for someone being sexually harassed or assaulted, THANK YOU! There ARE good people out there and you all are making this world a better place by taking a stand.

#MeToo

(There’s definitely another side of this topic to be explored. Especially if you are familiar with my spirit animal, Stassi Schroeder. Stay tuned.)