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‘That’s what happened to me’: We all know someone who’s had a date like Grace’s
‘It’s heartbreaking because I’ve been there’
by Una Dabiero
On Sunday, an anonymous woman called Grace* told babe about "the worst night of her life" — a date with comedian Aziz Ansari.
Grace says Ansari took advantage of her because she was "not listened to and ignored" when she used verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate how uncomfortable and distressed she was by his sexual advances.
Her story of being ignored by a man while he continuously pushes for sex is (unsurprisingly) relatable to like, every woman in the United States.
Since it's 2018, women are sharing their Grace-like experiences on Twitter. And their tweets are starting an important conversation on our dating culture, that lends itself to interpersonal pressures and sexual coercion.
Women began to realize they themselves had been in Grace's situation
And most girls recounted that they had experiences like this multiple times.
This almost universal experience gave the story an eerie relatability
And allowed lots of girls to empathize with what Grace did in the face of fear
The story brought some women back to specific experiences
While it caused others to think broadly about their experiences with rape culture and feeling powerless in sexual situations
Or how rape culture lead them to not realize when they had been assaulted or abused
Girls are still living with the effects of these experiences
But they're also speaking out. Time's up.