Today at around 11 p.m., I was walking to my car outside of my house when I saw two men on my black wearing dark clothing walking down my street towards me. I got that immediate panic/fear response we all get: "please don't watch me, please don't approach me, please don't attack me..."

And guess what! They kept walking and didn't bother me.

JUST KIDDING, we know what they FUCKING did. They came up to me, surrounded my car on both sides, and went from kindly asking to "talk" to aggressively berating me for not being a "nice girl". I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, that it took me by surprise and doesn't normally happen to me, but it does. It happens to me, constantly. It happens to us all, constantly. Whether it's the guy on the street who "just wants to talk", or the coworker who asks inappropriate questions under the guise that he "is just interested in your life, why are you being such a bitch?!"

So my solution? Stop being nice to men. Seriously, stop. How many women are dead because they ignored their internal alarm systems in order to be seen as amenable, or to not make others "uncomfortable"? How many of us have been cornered, attacked, yelled at, mocked or insulted when we aren't firm with

We see on the internet frequently the "poor men, they feel so bad that they make women uncomfy" and "it hurts my feefees when women cross the street like I'm a bad guy waaaahh" but what the fuck is the alternative? We endanger ourselves to protect their damn feelings? Nah girl. Cross the fucking street. Walk around with a knife. Do what you gotta do to get where you gotta go. #NotAllMen are going to attack you, but most of the people that will attack #AreAllMen so fuck em.

Another thing we see a lot is men saying "she gave me mixed signals!!!1 I thought she was into me and then she turned me down!!!" The mistake here was that she was treating him like an equal and he was treating her like an opportunity. Stop giving men mixed signals by just ignoring them.

For real. I started practicing this at work. I'm a naturally friendly and bubbly person, and my female coworkers have reciprocally friendly and lighthearted conversations. My male coworkers are largely rude, dismissive, or do the bare minimum to qualify as "professional". I've started ignoring them and guess the fuck what! They don't even say hi to me half the time, sparing us both an unpleasant, shallow interaction. It's pretty great!

This is true of guy "friends". I have legitimate male friends with whom we share hobbies, senses of humor, and a common care and concern for one another. And then I have guy "friends" who I just know because they're... around? Why am I wasting my time on these boring ass dudes who offer nothing? I've stopped trying to make an effort with these people and I notice no discernible difference in my life besides extra free time to focus on the things and people that matter.

See, in this area we need to start thinking more like men: ignore people who don't benefit you and don't put forth effort out of some ingrained sense of politeness. It'll save you time, mental energy, and effort.