I don't believe anyone is getting their jollies. Now, I am a little shy myself and I don't look people in the eye when I speak. So maybe I look suspicious for that reason. But the women doing the patdown are not getting a thrill out of this, and any male TSA officers in the area are usually busy doing their own jobs. It is well within your rights to ask for a private patdown if you prefer, but in my humble view, I think if I am patted down in public, there is absolutely no chance of misbehavior. And it saves me time. So I prefer to be screened in public.
To each her own, but I don't accept that women are by nature fragile wilting flowers who run screaming in fear when subject to a professional search. We are the gender that gets annual Pap smears. We're strong. We'll do what it takes to stay healthy and safe.
I'll give you one clue: On the street, all women get whistled at and catcalled. I hate to say, get over yourself, but will admit that it's the first phrase that sprung to mind.
Originally Posted by GradGirl
Great question, Real McCoy. I can't prove it of course, but I firmly believe that the reason I'm consistently singled out is that I'm a young, petite, and very curvy female. It would be nice to think there aren't ulterior motives behind the fact that male screeners select me to be touched and humiliated within their (the male screeners') line of sight, but let's be realistic. On the street I get catcalled and whistled at, and in the airport I get secondarily searched.
I absolutely do not dress provocatively and I am extremely shy about strangers touching me. Am I really so unusual in that? I think that being forced to endure total strangers touching our bodies in sensitive places has a much deeper psychological impact on women than it does on most men. Not to mention the fact that men's private areas are not supposed to be touched during screening, but women's private areas (over, under, and in between breasts) are fair game if the wand beeps.
I try not to let these guys get their jollies, by insisting that my search be conducted in a private area. I feel all subjective and secretive criteria for secondary search should be ended, to eliminate the possibility of folks abusing their positions of power. If you beep or if you get a flag, that's one thing, but letting a man in a uniform dictate that *you* are the one he wants searched, without giving any reason, is just asking for trouble.