Anybody got readings on why men do extreme antisocial gender-based violence? They’re enforcing male domination, sure, but why do some whistle and some commit overtly sexual and/or violent acts? I’d like to understand more about this, because when women tell me about being victimized my first reaction is “wtf was his problem, how does this shit happen” which is decentering their perspective instead of empathizing with them and being a good friend. I want to understand this so that it isn’t a “curiosity” to me; I’ve read a bit about sexism in relationships and found that I was able to give better advice or comfort in such situations once it was old hat. Most men haven’t been stared at by a stranger, let alone touched/etc., so it is difficult to imagine.

I’ve done a little googling and come up dry. Some people try to survey perpetrators of street harassment and then ask them what they’re doing, but the men are fucking liars and so insights will be limited. E.g. Herrera and McCarthy got this schlock:

Men in our sample reported higher levels of street harassment than in other studies (e.g., Kearl, 2014, 2018): 70% of men said they had been told to smile, 63% said they had been called ‘sexy,’ 53% said kissing noises had been made at them, and 46% said they had been called “hey baby” and being followed.

probably even harder to find a bunch of men who will admit to flashing or stalking or something and then get them to honestly report their material circumstances and motivations. So pls send theory if you have anything, Marxist preferred: who are these guys, where do they come from, and wtf do we do with them?