Tag Archives: assault

Airport Screening, Privacy, and Penis Size

Debbie says:

Until today, all the conversations I had heard about the full-body scanners being used in airports were about invasion of women’s privacy. (Do I have to say I think that’s an important issue? I think that’s an extremely important issue.)

But this story points out a disturbing variation.

full body scan photographs

Screener Rolando Negrin’s private body parts were observed by his Transportation Security Administration colleagues conducting training on the airport’s full-body imaging machines.

Months of [daily ribbing about the size of Negrin’s genitalia] culminated on Tuesday night, when Negrin attacked a co-worker in an employee parking lot, according to an arrest report.

Negrin “stated he could not take the jokes any more and lost his mind,” said the report.

Let’s take this story apart:

First of all, in the process of training on the machines, TSA workers, in effect, see each other naked. Being seen naked by strangers when you come through the screeners is bad enough, but being seen by the people you work with every day is even worse. People have all kinds of reasons to keep their “private parts” private from their co-workers. (See this post for just one take on work and genital privacy.) I’m betting that the TSA provides little or no trainings on the complications of opportunities to see co-workers naked; anyone want to take the other side of that bet?

Second, they not only see each other naked, they (in this case at least) know exactly who they are seeing. If all the rest of the exposure is completely inevitable (which I do not believe), it should still be possible to do full-body screenings of all the identified men in a work group and then show those screens in a randomized order to all the identified men, and similarly with all the women. But clearly, no one bothered to do that here.

Third, the harassment. While I can’t defend Negrin’s attack, I can’t defend what was done to him either. I want to know why he was subjected to “months” of mocking. This speaks to an environment in which he didn’t feel safe going to his supervisor; in fact, the supervisor may have been among the harassers. It also speaks to an environment in which no one stood up for him, or told his co-workers to shut their mouths.

Finally, the meat: first, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with having a small penis, and no man should ever be teased about it, let alone repeatedly and viciously. Sometimes, a small penis can be evidence of an intersexual condition or other medical condition, but most often it’s just small. What’s more, flaccid penis size has very little to do with erect penis size, so whatever the harassers saw doesn’t even have the implications they were mocking.

I respect and defend the TSA’s zero-tolerance policy for assault. At the same time, I stand very strongly for better ways for victims to protect themselves from concerted vicious campaigns. I stand for everyone’s right to physical and genital privacy, our rights to managerial protection from asshole co-workers. This is yet another case of a nasty systemic problem treated as if it was the individual’s problem. Negrin may be guilty, but he’s not guilty in a vacuum.

Found via Arthur D. Hlavaty.

Link Roundup

Debbie says:

I’m always excited when someone has the ingenuity to take something tired and familiar and turn it into something new and fresh. That’s what Shayne Austen has done, just by directing these tips at assaulters. There are ten tips in all, but here are a couple of my favorites:

When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!
NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.
Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.
Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone “on accident” you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

And, ALWAYS REMEMBER: if you didn’t ask permission and then respect the answer the first time, you are commiting a crime- no matter how “into it” others appear to be.

The New York Times gives serious thought to a problem facing the contemporary Islamic woman:

Many pious Muslim women in the United States, like Ms. Shearson, wear hijab in public, loose garments that cover their hair and body, which can hinder movement and add to discomfort during exercise. Women may show their hair, arms and legs up to the knees in front of other women.

But how to mix one’s physical and spiritual needs with practicality? Some Muslim-Americans go to women-only gyms … And some gyms and Y.M.C.A.’s offer gender-segregated areas, hours or days.

Other women, like Umm Sahir Ameer, a 27-year-old student in Shaker Heights, Ohio, take matters into their own hands. Last year, Ms. Ameer started the Muslimah Strive Running-Walking Group so she and 12 of her friends could exercise together.

So much that’s written about Muslim women and covering is either patronizing or snide; it’s heartening to see a thoughtful and comprehensive article on an interesting issue. One side point that the writer makes is that “covering” can minimize body image issues, which makes perfect sense.

Fat and in a good relationship? Have a fat partner? Tell Lesley about it:

I am looking for photos/stories of happy couples in which one OR both people are fat. Email for info: lesley at fatshionista.com.

If you have been following any of the complex internet discussions about race, cultural appropriation, science fiction fandom, and related topics, this is an absolutely crucial reference work: a roundtable through the Organization for Transformative Works, featuring several of the smartest people who are thinking and writing in this area, talking about what they believe and what they’ve learned. I’m having a terrible time pulling out quotations to bring you in, so I’ll just say: this is 100% worth reading.

Several people I read linked to the assault piece. Jonquil pointed to the Muslim women article. Lynn Kendall found the call for happy fat stories. And Betsy blogged the roundtable.