Women have been getting their breasts patted down for years now

[boston bean]

at airports. But all the sudden men are gonna have their junk patted down by another man and all hell breaks loose.

I think it's ironic, if that's the right word.

And no, I don't agree with the nude x ray machine or these over the top pat downs.

[WingDinger]

1. Apparently, now, mommy and daddy must say sometimes, you must.

allow strangers to touch you in places that dont make you comfortable. And we have to help.

[boston bean]

2. Yep, thought about that too. Quite a mixed message there. And a dangerous one. nt

[chill_wind]

11. Yes! n/t

[Mz Pip]

3. Years ago

before 9/11 I went through a security check point in venezuela. My bottle of water was opened and sniffed and my "junk" was grabbed. Now I'm female and the security person was female and I don't really know what the equivelent word for 'junk" is if you're female, but that's what happened.

I was more surprised by it than outraged. I kind of jumped. I hardly was going to make a fuss about it. I was in friggin Venezuela fercrissake and if that's what they do there then that's that. But in retrospect Venezuela seemed to take security a lot more seriously that we did in the late 90s.

TSA seems to be kind of a joke to me, even now. But if I want to go somewhere I have to deal with it. Maybe if enough people complain about it then the policy will change but I kind of doubt it.

[WolverineDG]

8. I went through airport screening in Luxor, Egypt

& one of them asked me (as a joke it turned out) if I had a gun. Thankfully, I asked him to repeat himself, because I thought he said "gum," & yes, I had gum on me (I was by this point, used to being asked for gum by just about everyone as a "tip" :shrug: )

He then said, "Oh no, I'm joking, I know you don't have a gun."

:wow:

dg

[On the Road]

19. My Girlfriend Was Leaving Caracas Airport

and got pulled out when the scanners spotted a container of unknown white powder in her luggage. It was a bag of flour for making arepas. Just a little scare for a second.

[Matariki]

4. Interesting observation, but not actually accurate.

Rules changed on October 29th - less than 3 weeks ago.

Front of the hand vs. back of the hand. Contact with genitals, male and female. Squeezing vs brushing with back of hand.

And enough stories corroborating pat downs being used punitively for folks opting out of the scanners.

[boston bean]

5. Women have been having their bras lifted and the underside of their breast patted down

for a long time. I don't know how they are lifting the bra with the back of the hand....

[Poboy]

6. Right. They are 'giving people the business', those who opt out.

[boston bean]

7. here is a pic from pre 3 weeks ago.

[TexasObserver]

9. Every perv in America will try to work for TSA.

Their job is to aggressively feel up all manner of people who don't want it but have to submit to it under penalty of law.

This is going to get worse and worse. It's intolerable.

[LibDemAlways]

12. Given the caliber of the average TSA employee before these

changes, I shudder to think what's going to show up wearing a TSA badge now that genital groping is mandated. There must be an army of sleazy morons salivating at the opportunity.

[TexasObserver]

22. The very job itself will bring out the worst in people.

Add to that people who are emotionally drawn to such work, and it's a mad house.

[HockeyMom]

10. Germany in the 70's was worse

I was a newlywed in my 20s. My husband and I were led away to separate "shacks". I was asked to completely disrobe and put on a hospital gown. A very, very BIG German woman then came in and patted me down and I even had to bend over for her. Humiliating and terrifying would be an understatement.

NOTHING I have experienced in the US, and they pick me out all the time even as an old lady of 62, can EVER match that experience.

Beats me why I am always targeted.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Apparently, lots of people aren't going to fly because of this.

Which means, half-empty planes with tons of extra room to stretch out for the rest of us.

I say, "here's my junk, my good man! Pat, pat, pat away!"

[Rebubula]

21. Interesting Take...

...I Like it.

That would be a nice break from the always full flights I seem to be on these days.

[Radical Activist]

14. This reminds me of an old SNL routine.

Someone claimed to have invented a machine that accurately measured the size of a man's penis. He planned to have it placed in airport bathrooms and elsewhere around the world. He spoke in a frantic manner as he told of his life being under constant threat by men who were trying to thwart his plans. It was pretty damned funny.

[Gamow]

15. No, the outrage is that EVERYONE is now either e-strip-searched or felt up

before it was only those who triggered one alert or another, or was randomly selected.
I really don't think this has anything to do with men vs women.

[slampoet]

16. I had my male junk patted down in Dec 2001 for questioning why Sen. Carl Levin was being searched.

You are DEAD WRONG.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. What? Somebody wants to mess with my junk?

'Lizbeth, I'm comin' to join ya!

[Kablooie]

18. Some get their breasts pumped up too.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. That's right, and it was offensive and leading to a growing list of anger issues.

A black female security guard cupped her hands and lifted my breasts up with the back of her palms to see if I was hiding something under my breast. She also patted my belly.

I'm not angry at her, directly, because I could tell she hated doing it as much as I hated it being done to me.

But the anger issues grew from a pile-on effect of circumstances that never seemed to end.

[slackmaster]

23. That doesn't make it OK

:nuke: