Is Pantsing Sexual Harrassment?....Yes

Pantsing..the act of pulling down someone's pants as a prank or a bullying tactic, it happens in schools every year, some say it is just a prank, others say it is sexual harrassment, but which is it? can it be both? Most people laugh when they see it happen, or smirk when they hear someone talk about it, but when you really think about it, is it just a prank?

Let's go over the main types of pantsings, and I don't mean the different techniques to do it, to some poor person, but there are two main types of pantsings, doing it to a friend as a prank, or humiliating the school nerds because you can, lets talk about the difference between those, and why we need to accept that there is a difference, but first a little bit about me, and why this topic is important to me.

I am a nerd, or dork, or dweeb...whatever word suited my tormentors on any given day, I was bullied all through school, elementary, middle and high, I was never one of the cool kids, I wasn't trendy and I wasn't particularly strong or athletic, I wore tighty whiteys all the way through seventh grade, and switched to boxers just before eighth grade (although I still occasionally wore tighty whiteys), Freshman year I wore either boxer briefs (some say are not much better) or boxers, that was the first year of not wearing briefs at all and for this I was tormented constantly.

If you can think of something embarrassing that can happen to someone, it has probably happened to me, from my pants falling down, to getting pantsed, wedgies, locked out in my underwear, pushed out of locker rooms half naked...I even got stripped naked (more than once) and the feared swirly, nowadays I hear people talk about being a nerd, because they like comics, videogames, or dress in a "nerdy" way, but many of them have never experienced what being a dork really means.

In First Grade my sisters pantsed me in front of the entire school during an assembly, I hid in a matt room off to the side for the rest of the assembly, when it was over I tried to leave before everyone else, and was promptly pantsed again, this was one of my first and my biggest pantsing (in terms of how many people saw...the whole school of 800+) it was not my first embarrassing moment, but it started a humiliating trend of my underwear (or whats under it) being shown against my will to large of crowds of people, especially girls.

This brings me back to my original question is pantsing just a prank, or is it something more? It depends

I have heard people talk about pantsing their friends at a sleepover, or out on the town in front of people, but that is not the same thing as what happened to me, and people like me. Getting pantsed once or twice by your friends..in front of your friends is still embarrassing, but they tend to be more forgiving than bullies, if you attempt revenge, also they usually mean it as an innocent prank, people will argue that it is still embarrassing...and it is, but try getting your pants pulled down to your ankles in front of at least 800 people laughing hysterically and see if its as bad. I personally don't understand pantsing as an innocent prank, as far as I am concerned, it is bullying plain and simple, but if you can see the humor in your friend doing that to you, by all means have at it. People also will tell me that when a friend pantses you and posts it on the internet it is seen by more people, and is therefore more embarrassing, yes and no I say to that, more people will see it, but they are not right there laughing and mocking, they are not within arms reach of you where they could do more to you, they aren't around you everyday where they could make your life a living hell because of it, so I would argue that its not worse.

Another good one that people always say is "If you don't want to get pantsed..wear a belt" I am here to tell you that doesn't help, it might stop someone who is going for a quick prank on a friend, but if some bully really wants to pants his favorite nerd, a belt will not stop him (In fact that can make it more embarrassing if the underwear goes down to...been there, done that just sayin') "It's just underwear..its a little bit of embarrassment than you move on" is another quote it was my sisters favorite thing to say whenever she would hear someone talking about its harassment to pants someone, and it could scar them...that was my sisters opinion that it wasn't that big of a deal, my sister has never been pantsed (although she has pantsed me her fair share of times), so while she is entitled to her opinion it doesn't really mean much. I will say this though I do agree to a certain extent that it is just a little bit of embarrassment...depending on the circumstances.

For example when my family had just moved into a new house, our neighbors came over to introduce themselves, a blonde girl about my age, and her dad, I liked the girl right away, I saw her and was developing my first crush (I was 8 or 9 at the time) My brother noticed this, and decide to have some fun, so he took a pair of my tighty whiteys out of my drawer and threw them out the window, they landed right in the middle of our neighbors, my parents, and my sisters, naturally they all laughed, blushing I turned to yell at my brother, only to see a second pair of my briefs go flying out the window, red faced I ran outside and went to collect my undies with people laughing at me, when I had my underwear balled up in one hand, my parents told me to introduce myself, I did, and as I was shaking the neighbor girls hand, my brother struck..and pantsed me, revealing a third pair of briefs, a short struggle ensued in which my sisters and brother kept pulling my pants back down and everyone laiughed, before I ran back inside, in that case it was embarrassing at the time, but I got over it relatively quickly...the same can be said about the pantsed me using nothing, but water, however...

The time I was pantsed in front of the entire school by my sisters is a different story, that one scarred me, hundreds of laughing people...even the teachers, after my sisters pulled them down, they held them down for a few seconds, this pantsing would be the beginning of a very embarrassing year, my classmates never let me live it down, that was harder to get over, so was the time I was relieved of my pants after gym, and had to walk from one building to the other to get them back, at least two classes worth of people saw me that time.

So, if its a once and a while thing, among friends or family, then sure I can see it being not that big of a deal, and just a funny prank, but that is not always the case, and people need to realize the damage that can be done when it is a major pantsing in front of hundreds of people, or if the underwear comes down too, is that still just a prank? Exposing someone's most sensitive bits and pieces against their will is that not sexual harrassment? Also, a pantsing needs to be handled the same way regardless of who the victim is, boys seem to get into more trouble for pantsing girls, then the other way around (at least in my experience) that should not be the case, they should all be disciplined equally (unless one is a minor event in front of a few people, and the other is a huge thing in front of huge crowds)

I will be writing more posts on this topic, but please feel free to let me know your opinion is pantsing just a harmless prank...or is it something bigger?