Shorty

Completely agree with this. We're all genetically different in how we handle things. There is no "one size fits all' for any situation, so you would think that when it comes to touching in the genital area, even less than a "one size fits all" approach is called for here, to put it mildly.

How completely moronic is it that this is even a discussion within the TSA, and at the Pistole level, as evidenced by his comments in USA Today? To think that they put policies in place (which Pistole chose to spring on the public rather than discussing upfront) where they are surprised after the fact that sexual abuse victims might have a problem with this??? That shows a total lack of any sense or empathy or knowledge of the human condition. *Nothing* is worth our security if it involves something to the point where people, and especially sexual abuse victims, are traumatized by it. That they don't seem to understand that, and are surprised that this is even an issue, leaves me feeling quite hopeless some days.

Wimpie

TSA Rolls Out “Cool Strangers With Candy” Program

http://www.popehat.com/2010/12/04/ts...candy-program/

snowmentality

Remembering myself as a teenager, I would definitely have felt ashamed and violated if I received a TSA gropedown. I was a very modest, private teenager and to be touched so cavalierly would have really upset me.

Of course, it still upsets me now. But I have a bit more self-confidence now, and I'm able to be angry about it. As a teenager I would have internalized the upset feeling, and felt dirty and ashamed, as though I had done something wrong. This would have been magnified if the TSO yelled at me or scolded me for anything.

I think lots of teenagers feel this sense of modesty and discomfort with being touched like that by a stranger -- both boys and girls. Teenagers are hyper-aware of their bodies because puberty is changing them so much. And teenagers are also trying to figure out how to deal with sexual thoughts and feelings, which can be overwhelming and scary -- especially dealing with being the object of someone else's thoughts. So having control over who sees and touches your body is especially important to many teenagers, and having that control taken away can be especially upsetting.

And frankly -- no matter whether it's a teenager or an adult -- the TSA has no right to force people to give up that control. We haven't been arrested, we're not prisoners. There is absolutely no reason why we should have to give up all bodily privacy at the airport.

WindOfFreedom

Don't you just love Pistole's brainless admonishment: "Submit [or don't fly]"

What a social incompetent. How did such a moron get such a power position?

ParentalFlyer

I found this after researching some TSA stuff. Years later, seems you've been proven right. People just accept it now, and as a parent who flies a lot, my daughter has had to get used to the pat downs. Whether I would feel different if I had a son, I don't know, because for all claims of equality, boys seem to be, in general, more relaxed about touching. But my daughter certainly wasn't the first time and neither was I - but what could I do? Someone once tried groping a TSA agent back and she got convicted of assault, so it's a good job I didn't fight back. After having told my daughter that nobody can touch her genitals (except a doctor if she has a medical problem there, or me (her mom) if there's some important reason like she's injured and can't wash herself until she's healed), I literally stood and watched as a TSA adult woman rubbed her hands over my daughter's crotch right in front of me, my 9-year-old daughter visibly uncomfortable and looking to me for help. She was asking me about it and all I could think to say was "It's alright" (or words to that effect), but she pressed the issue, asking why it was alright if I told her before that it wasn't. I told her that she was touched to protect her, and she told me it made her feel uncomfortable. As I knew we were going to be flying a lot, I told her that she was just going to have to accept it. The worst bit is I distinctly remember her asking me "I have to accept being touched by strangers now?" and I said yes. She asked why and actually did ask what would happen if she said "no", and I told her exactly what you said - "you have to". And told her that if she said "no", she'd get in trouble.

Fast forward to now, and she's totally used to being fondled by the TSA. She just accepts it as part of life and doesn't complain any more. But I recently learned a female family friend had been touching her sexually. She was talking about what they had been doing while the friend was looking after my daughter, and she told me about the touching in a really nonchalant way, as though it was nothing. It had been going on for months, but she hadn't told me because people touch her at the airport now, so she's used to her crotch being touched. That's not what I meant when I said she'd have to get used to the airport touching, but it's what's happened. She's completely normalised being groped, that she just submissively accepted my female friend doing it to her. As you say, I can't tell her to trust her instincts because of what was said before, because she's been trained to accept invasive touching by strangers. So our social norms have gone from "nobody can touch you there" to "anyone can touch you there and you shouldn't complain about it". Great. On the bright side, at least she doesn't seem traumatised.

petaluma1

You need to send this to your congresspeople and to any and all organizations that deal with child sexual abuse..

Further as TSA has said they don't intentionally touch genitals, tinyurl.com/y9ttb62p a police report is in order when yours or your daughter's are probed.

Either genital contact by TSA is deliberate or, as Chollie has suggested, there are many screeners who enjoy feeling up passengers & take advantage to get their jollies.

TWA884

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