‘Woman of the Hour’ is prompting women on TikTok to share advice on encountering threatening men

Women are taking the lead from Netflix’s Woman of the Hour and sharing tips they’ve used to stay safe from threatening men.

The Netflix thriller is based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala who appeared on The Dating Game in the 1970s in the midst of his murder spree. The film tells the story of the women who became his victims. Woman of the Hour marks Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut. Kendrick also stars in the movie as Sheryl, a character very loosely based on a real person named Cheryl Bradshaw, who won a date with Alcala but ultimately decided to forego the prize. In response to the film, women are taking the opportunity to share their own safety tips and experiences with unsettling dates. 

“Things I have done to keep myself safe,” posted TikToker Rachel Lovely, citing the film as her inspiration for making the video. “I also want to preface this by saying if someone really, really wants to set out to hurt me and that’s their primary goal, they absolutely will,” she says. “These are just some things that I have utilized to try to either delay that from happening or get out of the situation in general.”

The first scenario she describes is getting into an elevator late at night and being followed by a man. “Making eye contact always makes me feel better in those situations,” she explains. “I never let the person stand fully behind me.” In this instance, when the doors open at her floor she encourages the man to go ahead and get out as she has “forgotten” something back down in the lobby. “I’m not having this guy follow behind me,” she says.

If the person following her into the elevator doesn’t press any button, she will turn to him and ask what floor he needs while blocking the buttons with her body. If he sees the button of her floor lit up and says he is going to the same floor, she will say she is actually going to the floor of the button directly above. When the floor comes, she will hold the elevator door open with her arm and wait for him to get out. “If it’s about to go down, it’s going to go down here,” she says. “It’s not going to be the hallway or my apartment.”

The next scenario is one every woman can relate to: If a man asks for your number but you don’t want to give it to them. “When he asks for it, I will change my number by one digit,” she explains. If the person insists on calling to check the number there and then, she will correct it so he is satisfied, then block his number right away. “Women are conditioned to be polite and accommodating, but your gut instinct is going to be screaming red alert,” she explains. “Your only job is to listen to that.”

Other people are sharing similar videos, calling for women to not apologize if a man makes them feel uncomfortable, or sharing their own almost-identical experiences as the film. “To think that could have been me is so scary,” Lovely adds.

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