I watched a video presentation, where woman was touched inappropriately by a man, who walked away immediately after. She grabbed him and pinned him. I'm not going to defend the guy, but a number of us had to wonder if her actions were not only smart, but also legal. I don't know of any credible self-defense instructor that encourages violence when there isn't an active physical threat. The audience of the clip cheered this on, and the presenter encouraged it. When challenged, she said that the prosecutors she spoke to approved of the woman's actions. When asked if this would still be acceptable if the roles were reversed, she also said yes.
My first question--was she in the right?
My second question, if she wasn't-- does a double-standard exist on the perception of retaliation by men or women right after an assault?
It is necessary to remember the cultural context and the significant physical differences that apply. For one, I would have never recommended the woman start a physical confrontation if the man had walked off; if he is willing to harass you in public sexually, what else would he do? As for the double standard, it depends on culture.
Here in the UK, dating at my age is stressful and most young men including myself, have entirely opted out. The double standards are extremely prevalent in an almost predatory way that can be easily taken advantage of, especially in university. If I, as a university student, attend some sort of party or get drunk with a girl and take her home, I am still the one liable as the man and she can accuse me of rape, even if we were both just as intoxicated. Even if the complaint is false, my reputation is ruined, and so are my future job or career prospects.
If I am the one that's drunk, and she "takes advantage" of me, my complaint will fall on deaf ears. The issue is that these are outdated laws in a hyper-progressive culture that believes sexual deviancy, standards, attractions, and behaviors are exactly the same for both men and women. Although the laws take a traditional approach in assuming men can't be victims of rape or sexual assault by the same standards as women, society expects us to behave as if everything between both sexes is entirely equal. As such, these double standards are magnified as the consequence of an offense only applies in one way. This is why there is such an influx of young men amongst red-pill and MGTOW spaces, and in the worst cases, black-pill and incel spaces.
If I go back to Bulgaria, in a more relaxed country with more traditional standards, things change. If a woman gets intoxicated, regardless of whether I am or not, and I take her home, she can still consent and it is her responsibility to take care of herself. Her ability to consent doesn't magically disappear, although of course there is a line such as unconsciousness etc. In the example you cited, the double standard would still apply, but it would be seen more as flirting. If we're all speaking candidly, as men, the majority of us can agree that we would be quite happy to be catcalled or pinched on the *** when walking by the street. It's happened to me many times bartending, and I've always taken it as a compliment. Many of the people around me agree. This is not to say that women should take these as compliments - I am highlighting that actions and their perspective change based on which gender is on the receiving end. Women could, and in most cases should, take these things as a threat.
In a society that posits that men are women have almost no distinguishable biological differences, these double standards are annoying at best, and downright dangerous and exploitable at worst. If a man had his *** pinched, it would be seen as completely acceptable for the man to turn around and knock the woman out, because, after all, we're all equal right? The only reason people complain about these double standards is due to the perception that equality is equivalent to equity, if this is the correct word for it, so men and women expect the exact same treatment for everything. But double standards are necessary so that we are able to take sex and other factors into consideration.
