[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by FireFly

I cannot tell you how many times I have typed up a reply to this thread and then deleted it. I cannot tell you how many posts I have quoted in those posts. I have been keeping my eye on this thread and am not really surprised at how it is unfolding.

I was 23 in 2004 and lived on 14th Ave so was within walking distance of the red mile. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere for the first round of playoffs. True fans who loved the team and the game coming together in celebration of what seemed like the impossible.

Every game after that became more and more uncomfortable.

It's hard to describe to a bunch of men just what it felt like down there. Not every woman will have the same experiences, not everyone responds the same way. We all have our own journeys to follow. I am not going to judge the girls who decided to flash for whatever reason. It's not really my concern if someone wants to show their tits.

However, imagine yourself surrounded by thousands of people chanting "Flames in six! Show your tits!" THOUSANDS. 1/3 of those people have their cameras ready to take your picture should you oblige. Some of them are yelling right in your face. Some of them are grabbing at your shirt. All of them are drunk. You and your girlfriend or boyfriend are surrounded by drunks, 90% of whom are yelling at you to take your shirt off for Kiprusoff.

Is that what it's like this year? I doubt it. By all accounts it's not that bad. It wasn't that bad for round one in 2004 either. But every round it got successively worse.

Someone here said that the chants were aimed at the girls who were flashing.... Really? Is that what you think? I'm pretty sure everyone has already seen their boobs and what is being chanted for is more boobs.

Words cannot possibly convey the growing discomfort and disgust I felt in 2004. At times I was scared for my personal safety. (People yelling in my face, calling me frigid or other names, making comments about my boobs because I wouldn't show them, the grabbing, etc.)

Again, my understanding is that it's not like this this year. That's fine. But things snowball. If it's okay to chant asking for women to flash now, what happens when you triple the population down there?

I could go on and on about this. People are trying to say it wasn't an issue in '04 and it shouldn't be an issue now but it absolutely was an issue in '04. People are trying to stop it from becoming an issue this year. I would love to head down to the Red Mile again but I just don't feel comfortable. That's sad. I'm a diehard Flames fan and I should be able to enjoy the festivities as much as anyone. However, because I have tits I'm only allowed if I'm okay with being sexually harassed and asked to show my tits to everyone and subsequently, have them placed on the internet without my permission.

And yes, it is sexual harassment. Chanting at women in the hopes they will show their tits is absolutely sexual harassment. Groping, smacking and grabbing when it's unwanted is absolutely sexual assault. Is it the same as rape? No. No one is claiming it is. However, it is all demeaning to women and it is all a crime.

CLUNK.

I think that was the sound of the mic dropping. Wow.

I'd like to hear someone try to argue with that post.

Well done.