TW / Sexual assault
I hope the people who accuse me of being anti-male, sexist, paranoid, etc read all the sexual assault stories by survivors online and understand why I& #39;m highly selective or take a very long time to trust or get close with a male even as friends.

It& #39;s easy to say that not all men are bad, especially when you& #39;re a man yourself. It doesn& #39;t give you fear when you insist that it& #39;s okay to go out with you or exchange numbers although we knew each other online for a week or two but it does give me fear.

I have my own close male friends whom I hangout with and talk to without boundaries but these are people I& #39;ve known for a long time, mutuals whom my female friends know and feel comfortable with and people whom I could trust and have never given me those "bad instincts"

Apart from my close friends, I can& #39;t bring myself to quickly trust other males. It& #39;ll take time. If protecting myself is bitchy to you, it speaks more about yourself. You& #39;re not willing to put yourself in women& #39;s shoes to understand our concerns because it doesn& #39;t affect you.