Disappointing online reaction to TikTok rant over man’s masturbation act

It’s surprising how little things have changed in 20 years, if the reaction to a man’s vile masturbating act on a public beach near a young woman and two teens is anything to go by, writes Letea Cavander

A story about a woman and three teenage girls subjected to a man masturbating near them at a popular Sunshine Coast beach has really got me thinking, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’.

In a video shared on TikTok, Ashleigh Blake described a man’s alleged public masturbation act while she was alone at a secluded beach in Coolum Beach.

Ms Blake also describes the sick act being done near two teens and her expletive-laden social media rant shows what may be interpreted as her anger and frustration and disgust over the situation.

It was anger and frustration and disgust that I felt upon hearing of her experience.

It was my fervent hope that in the world of body politics and the objectification of women, we would be much more evolved than we were 20 years ago.

It’s surprising how little things have changed in 20 years, if the reaction to a man’s vile masturbating act on a public beach near a young woman and two teens is anything to go by. Picture: Rohan Kelly/File

Sadly, it seems, we are not.

Sure, there will always be those around who engage in these kinds of acts and we can only hope that police will eventually catch and charge the guy.

What surprised me, though, was the social media chatter regarding the story.

Cue the mates tagging mates in with the old ‘bro I thought you’d stopped doing this’ and ‘too excited about the new Broncos coach’ and all of the jokes that have been around for eons.

Now, I’ve worked in some seriously man-dominated industries in the past.

I’ve heard crib box talk of women being rated on their looks, had to clean around porn magazines and naked pin-ups on job sites and been subjected to a couple of ‘stupid woman driving’ jokes when I had a small car crash (to be fair, it was a bit silly on my part but would have preferred a joke based on stupidity alone and not my gender).

I sat, silent, or gave it back, or just brushed it off and got on with the job.

That was more than 20 years ago and I thought things had changed.

I thought that although there is no stopping some men engaging in a vile act, at least there would be support for this woman following her experience.

Nope, just the same old tired jokes proliferated.

But what if it was your girlfriend, or your daughter, or your wife subjected to something like that on a public beach? How would you feel then?

Originally published as Disappointing online reaction to TikTok rant over man’s masturbation act