Column: White van man gets his comeuppance!

Sexist blokes came under fire last week when a video showed a female cyclist ripping off a builder's wing mirror after he'd harassed her at traffic lights. The furious female cyclist took revenge on him and his white van after he asked if she was on her period... but only because she had rebuffed his unwanted advances. The whole sorry saga was caught on a camera helmet by a motorcyclist who was travelling behind. The film, which later went viral, showed the female cyclist pulling up at a red light. The knuckle-dragging caveman then parked up his van alongside and proceeded to ask if she'd like his telephone number. Surprisingly, she didn't. Instead, she told him to go away and slapped the side of his van to try and hammer her message home. That's when the builder turned really nasty.
Road rageRoad rage
Road rage

“That’s not very ladylike, is it?” he's caught on camera saying. “What charm school did you go to?”

I don't know, but I hazard a guess it was a better one than he did. The woman continues to ignore him so he reaches out to try and touch her before adding: “Shut up, you old dog. You on your period?”

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Remarkably, he then asks again for her number. The light turns green and the van drives off, but this time the woman gives chase. Pedalling furiously, she catches up as he pulls over. With the arms and upper body strength of a weightlifter, she furiously rips off his wing mirror before cycling away.

“That’s exactly what you deserve, you scum,” the (male) motorcyclist adds as he speeds off.

But the video, which some argue is a stunt, has divided opinion, mainly male against female. Whilst I would never condone violence or criminal damage, I think in this instance, and if this had have been me, I would have ripped off more than his wing mirror. Having been on the end of comments like this, the most shocking thing is the fact there are still men who feel they can talk to women like this. It wasn’t so long ago that we were forced to tolerate this type of catcalling every day. Yet, imagine the response if we started making inappropriate remarks about a certain part of a man’s anatomy? Not only that, but how would these Neanderthals like it if another man spoke to his wife, girlfriend or daughter like that? Let’s just say, he’d probably do more than rip off a wing mirror (I know I would if it were my daughter). But staged or not, this video proves the point that some still think that this kind of behaviour is acceptable. It’s not and it never was.