Women of all kinds, not just shy one, not just feminists, don't want strange men to hit on them because of the countless stories women have of turning a stranger down and then getting screamed at, swore at, called a dyke, called a bitch, etc etc etc. A single person has a billion people they can meet a woman though. …

This is why men now will immediately call whatever number you gave them while you're still standing there. They're like MDR bacteria - effective measures aren't effective forever.

Again, the key is: knowing when conversation is not welcome. It's one thing to approach a stranger. It's another to approach them or continue trying to talk with them when every indication is that they do not want to engage in the conversation.

For too many women, walking out the door is taken as an "invitation to…

Not the same exactly... but we sometimes get the church people knocking on our door on Saturday morning. I have a regular wood front door and a screen door/security door. I usually spy them as I'm puttering around the kitchen and just shut the front door (if I have the door open in nice weather). Once I got…

I'm always sad to hear this, but also know it's true. My real "I have a girlfriend" excuse does not act as a deterrent at all with boys (I refuse to call them men when they act like dating is a poorly written video game), unless the gf is present with her patent "I will skin you alive and display you skull on my lawn"…

I'm a white girl who speaks fluent Vietnamese, so I've used that before. They look VERY confused and usually leave me alone.

Ha! I've always wanted to learn Welsh. I suppose detracting harassers is as good a reason as any.

Even if he has, so what? I always thought the point was finding one person you wanted to go out with 500 times, not 500 people who will go out with you once each.

"Allow me to reiterate, I speak no English. Perhaps this will wash the confusion from your face, my friend. My apparent fluency is the result of constant repetition. As you can imagine, I have been through this speech many times before; in fact, I could repeat it for you in any one of seven different languages.…

I don't think "I detect an accent" and "I've always wanted to go there!" would work with 97% of the people I know, who have completely non-descript-newsreporter-worthy Midwest non-accents. And anybody who says "I've always wanted to go to Cincinnati" is clearly looking to rent an abandoned warehouse to murder women…

Anecdotal, but still: the internal battle between "niceness" and "stranger danger" is eternally, horribly ingrained in me. I still remember as deeply traumatic the first time a boy asked for my number; I was 15, a lifeguard, and not old/mature enough to smoothly handle being asked for my number by an older boy. I…

Yeah, the only person who has ever suggested I do this was white- I told her, "you're not familiar with the, 'learn English if you want to live in America, bitch' crowd, are you."

I was once on the phone with my mother while some dude tried to get my number. I said no (politely) and kept walking. He kept trying. I was walking down the street, obviously talking on the phone, and he would not leave me alone. Finally, I looked him dead in the eyes and said, " I don't have a phone." Since I was,…

Have you tried "I don't speak English" in perfect English and a straight face?

From the Post article:

Semi-related story time. Normally I am pretty good at shaking off men trying to pick me up in public places but last week my friend and I went the mall to get her ring finger sized. When we headed out this boy (who was on the phone so already being rude) stood way too close in my personal space and asked for my…

Pretend you only speak German. The Asian woman who only speaks German (or Welsh, whatever) will throw them too far off their game to continue.

I've found tying a gross condom above your head doesn't work either. Gets internet traffic, doesn't work.

I always use this response. "I'm married, and my husband just got released from jail. He was freed from a murder charge early due to a technicality." They usually walk away at that point. It they don't, I like to add: "He said he didn't really mind it, and wasn't afraid of going back."

I used to utilize the, "I don't speak English" spiel until I realized that too many men countered with, "Oh, are you Chinese? Konichiwa!" or something equally offensive.