January 10, 2010
I am getting a little bit frustrated with the Azeri men here. Most of the Azeri men in my neighborhood are very friendly to me. They stared at me first, then smiled and said “Salam” but none would approach me with disrespect. For nine months, I never once experienced an intentional sexual advance in my neighbourhood until yesterday in the Bazaar. A man approached me with a sexual haharassment, which made me really angry because I actually know the man. He is my vegetable guy. He is maybe at his 50s, but like most Azeri people here, he looks much older. To me, he is like an Azeri grandfather so never once did I expect that he wou
ld behave badly towards me.
Every time I passed his vegetable stand, he was always very gracious, friendly and gave me a bargain. I am a friendly person, even if I did not buy vegetables from him. I normally would stop by and offer my “salam”. We would exchange a few words, shake hands, and say goodbye, nothing more. Yesterday, when I passed by his vegetable stand, it was his partner who saw me first. Immediately, his partner alerted him and my vegetable man turned around to greet me. As usual, I extended my hand and said “Happy New Year”. He graphed my hand very firm and would not let go. Seconds later, I felt one of his fingers moving around underneath our palms. I know right away what that meant. First, I was shocked, then turned angry, “Pis, Pis” (bad, bad) and I walked away. He still smiled at me with his evil eyes, did not show any sign of remorse.
What made me even angrier are the responses from my male friends.
“He likes you, no big deal”,
“Get used to it”.
“When you are old you will miss the attention of men”
“Can I do that too?”
A typical insensitive reply from male! It appears to them that women are lucky to have men’s attention. I wonder, if the same instance occurs to their daughters, their sisters or their wives would they still feel the same way.
Well, one thing for sure, that Azeri man just lost his business with me.
I am getting a little bit frustrated with the Azeri men here. Most of the Azeri men in my neighborhood are very friendly to me. They stared at me first, then smiled and said “Salam” but none would approach me with disrespect. For nine months, I never once experienced an intentional sexual advance in my neighbourhood until yesterday in the Bazaar. A man approached me with a sexual haharassment, which made me really angry because I actually know the man. He is my vegetable guy. He is maybe at his 50s, but like most Azeri people here, he looks much older. To me, he is like an Azeri grandfather so never once did I expect that he wou
ld behave badly towards me.Every time I passed his vegetable stand, he was always very gracious, friendly and gave me a bargain. I am a friendly person, even if I did not buy vegetables from him. I normally would stop by and offer my “salam”. We would exchange a few words, shake hands, and say goodbye, nothing more. Yesterday, when I passed by his vegetable stand, it was his partner who saw me first. Immediately, his partner alerted him and my vegetable man turned around to greet me. As usual, I extended my hand and said “Happy New Year”. He graphed my hand very firm and would not let go. Seconds later, I felt one of his fingers moving around underneath our palms. I know right away what that meant. First, I was shocked, then turned angry, “Pis, Pis” (bad, bad) and I walked away. He still smiled at me with his evil eyes, did not show any sign of remorse.
What made me even angrier are the responses from my male friends.
“He likes you, no big deal”,
“Get used to it”.
“When you are old you will miss the attention of men”
“Can I do that too?”
A typical insensitive reply from male! It appears to them that women are lucky to have men’s attention. I wonder, if the same instance occurs to their daughters, their sisters or their wives would they still feel the same way.
Well, one thing for sure, that Azeri man just lost his business with me.
3 comments:
Male friends, as Azeri male friends? -Jim
no, American friends
Given what happened to some PCVs shown on tonight's 20/20 show, I would say you should be careful. -Jim
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