We have all been encountered with situations where we don’t know how to really react. I will focus on the grey zone in relationships between friends and dating partners and those concerning the line between being friendly and sexual harassment. I have intended to keep the blog in some kind of bullet point style to make it easy to use the information in the article towards escaping the grey zone. The are many Cultural expectations of how males and females within the Middle East, and in many other cultures generally, should act and how it contributes to falling to the grey zone. Few of them are
I. Males are expected to be affirmative and leading and appear strong
II. Females are expected to be submissive and agreeable
III. Males are expected to have the first move.
IV. Females are expected to be cheerful and understanding to those attempting to flirt with them
Many famous movies showing how arrogant and pushy guys always get the attraction of females and the examples are many. Spontaneous sexual advances are considered sexy and attractive in many movies and plays. So how can we identify signs of getting stuck in the grey zone. Here are some important points
• Indirect signs
I. Sexual advances between friends
II. Not respecting personal space
III. Implied physical and verbal signs
• False Assumptions
I. Being very close to someone gives you the right to make joke about his race, sex, or sexual orientation that are considered inappropriate if said to others.
II. Spending a lot of time with some you are attracted to means that he/she/they are sexually attracted to you
So once someone feels they are in the grey zone, there are many ways of escaping the grey zone; some of which are:
I. Setting up boundaries on how you want to be treated, talked to and setting up personal space.
II. Communicating any kind of inconvenience in the way a person speaks to you or any sort of physical contacts
III. Getting straight any kind of expectations and avoid any implied assumptions; especially those coming automatically with the culture.
Standing in your grounds is also essential in these situations as it can mean the difference for preventing any harm and victimization. Here are some points to consider regarding standing in your grounds
• Problems related to discrimination and sexual harassment never get better with time if you don’t do something about it
• Standing strong to defend your rights is key to avoid getting taken for granted.
• If things didn’t get resolved, there is many resources that can help you such as the police and other agencies related to discrimination and sexual harassment.