A man has gone viral after saying that it is ‘all men’ in the debate about whether we should generalise or not.
Neil Poynter captioned his TikTok, which has since gained over a million views, with: “Guys, this is on us. We need to learn.”
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In the video, he describes why he has this view, and what it was that transformed his way of thinking.
Neil recalls a conversation with his girlfriend at the time which made him realise what life is like as a woman.
He said: “Just because I know I’m a nice guy, that woman in the lift that I get into where she is on her own, and we’re both in there together, she does not know that I am a nice guy.”
Neil talked about an incident where he was once getting into a lift and saw an attractive woman standing there by herself.
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And instead of trying to converse with her, he decided he would politely say 'hi' and then look at the ground in the opposite direction, in order to avoid being intimidating.
Talking about the situation, he said: “Right there and then, I was a potential threat. Now, I don’t know if she was thinking that, but I know enough now and understand to know that there’s a 90 percent chance that she would have slightly gone on edge the moment I got into that elevator."
The man added: "The best, the most human, the most caring, supportive thing I can do in that moment is to reduce the threat."
Neil claims before he met his then-girlfriend, he didn’t understand about the lengths that women go to, to attempt to protect themselves, such as carrying keys in their hands while out late at night.
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He said: “This is what I mean about it is all men, all men are the potential threat and we need to understand that guys."
Many viewers of the TikTok rushed the comments to thank him for speaking out, including one woman who said: “Thank you for this Neil, the best I have heard in a long time.
“Please help us to get the message out there, we need more men like you.”
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Another added: “It’s really sad that so many women talk about it all the time, but men need to hear this from men to validate women’s feelings.”
A third wrote: "As a woman I can assure ALL men, we see you and appreciate you when you cross the road and so on - we really do!"
While one viewer noticed: “You know you’re onto something when Billie Eilish reposts your TikTok.”
Featured Image Credit: Tiktok/Neil_PoynterTopics: TikTok