Woman praised for confronting ‘gaslighting’ man who kept touching her in bar

A woman has been praised for highlighting “gaslighting” behaviour after she confronted a man who repeatedly invaded her personal space.

A video of the pair was shared to TikTok, showing the man with his chair uncomfortably close to hers as she sits with a friend in a bar.

The woman, tagged as @callalatrice (Calla), can be seen shooting him a dirty look as he stands directly behind her.

She then recoils as his arm brushes along her back, prompting him to cry mockingly: “Oh, s***! I touched her again!”

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The video then cuts to him with his hand now placed on Calla’s chair as he speaks to her friend.

When Calla confronts him again (her comments are inaudible at this point), he insists that he’s talking to her pal, not her.

However, the friend then points out that he was talking to her about Calla.

The latter then tells the man furiously: “You were talking to her about me and talking about my trauma because, yes, for the last f***ing 30 years of my life [men] don’t know how to keep space.

“They touch you inappropriately, they talk to you inappropriately, and they be [sic] in your motherf***ing space inappropriately.”

The man kept acting as though he was doing nothing wrong – Calla disagreed@haleymcquinn_/TikTok

The clip, posted by Calla’s friend Haley Mcquinn (@haleymcquinn_) and captioned “normalise checking men”, racked up more than 1.1 million views and 172,000 likes on the platform in just one day, as fellow TikTokers praised her response.

“I cannot stand people that act like him! ‘I don’t have an issue with me getting in YOUR personal space, you should relax’,” wrote one user.

“No boundaries,” agreed another.

“Triggered. When they gaslight you and try to make you feel like you’re overreacting for normally reacting to their disrespect,” commented a third.

While a fourth asked: “Why is he acting like the victim?”

A fifth honed in on some bystanders in the background, saying: “I’m also upset [at] the two other guys that can hear and see him harassing these two ladies and do nothing. Y’all [are] just as bad.”

Others preempted an opposing argument, with one writing: “Men will STILL think he was just playing and joking.”

Another said: “I just know someone out there thinks she’s dramatic. It’s called respecting personal space and education.”

Calla was widely praised for her response to the stranger’s inappropriate behaviourcallalatrice/TikTok

Meanwhile, Calla responded by sharing the same video but with her photo overlaid. She also added the caption “so obtuse… obviously can’t read facial expressions or body language.”

Her version was met with a similar response, with viewers sending her “much respect” and one commenting: “Channeling your energy the next time this happens.”

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