I just watched an episode of Law & Order: SVU, where a 15-year-old girl was raped by a lifelong friend she regarded as a brother, and it brought back a memory.
When I was 16 years old, in 5th Year at school, we were allowed to choose an activity on Wednesday afternoons. My friend and I enjoyed playing pool, so we chose to go to the snooker hall near our school, along with several guys in our Year. On the first day most of the guys went straight to the snooker hall at lunchtime, while my friend and I chose to eat lunch first.
When we arrived a dodgy-looking guy stopped us at the door and told us flatly that we had to leave. We didn't understand why and he said, "Because you're girls." We were outraged! We both got on our soapboxes and banged our feminist equality drums. How dare he try to exclude us?! We had as much right to be there as the boys! We were righteously indignant and argued our case vehemently and eloquently. The bloke was having none of it. However, the manager had heard our heated exchange and came over to us, telling his pal it was OK to let us in. He spent some time with us, showing us how to line up shots on a much bigger table than we were used to, how to use the rest, and how to use the table to our advantage. We were terrible; it was much harder and not nearly as much fun as pool.
At the end of the session the manager said, "I'm sorry, girls, but you can't come back. I can't guarantee your safety with all of these boys around." We were flabbergasted. We went to school with these boys. We'd known them for years. Of course we were safe around them! The naivety of youth. This man knew far better than us what men - or boys - are capable of doing to two unsuspecting teenaged girls in a dark, smokey room. Maybe we would've been perfectly fine, but my friend and I decided snooker wasn't for us, and we went into town to our favourite pool hall after that. I don't think I'd feel nearly so safe in that snooker hall these days.
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