A woman who was on the receiving end of an inappropriate comment from a stranger about her swimming costume at the pool was left horrified when her dad simply said she was "asking for it".
With her parents living on the other side of the country, the woman explained she doesn't see them often but they recently travelled to visit her.
The family went to the pool during their stay, where she says she was wearing a "low-cut swimsuit but nothing too crazy", sharing a photo of the swimming costume from the website as reference.
But while they were sitting by the pool, she says: "A man walked by and took a long look at me and kind of gestures to his own chest area and said 'boy, I’d like to get inside there!' (Inside my top, I guess?)
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"I felt embarrassed. After the man passed and a few more awkward moments of silence later, I said 'well that was awkward' just to say something I guess."
But rather than standing up for his daughter, her dad turned to her and said: "Well, you are looking for attention like that. Women who wear that kind of swimsuit top are asking men to look.”
The daughter continued: "I fell silent. I didn’t know what to say. I went to the bathroom and started crying.
"Now I’m so embarrassed to be wearing this and I don’t think I can handle being around my dad the rest of the week. I expected…better from him, I guess? I just was having a good day and now feel so s***ty because of these two men."
She was then angered even further when her dad spoke to her mum, who then suggested she found a way to safety pin the top closed, adding: "It looks like you’re trying too hard with how it is."
After asking for advice on how to handle the situation on Reddit, one person said: "Your parents suck. Clothing is never an invitation to make the wearer uncomfortable. Please don't take their comments to heart - it's a reflection of their own nastiness, not of you. Wearing a swimsuit doesn't make you gross or a sexual object."
A second wrote: "I can’t believe someone said that to you. Disgusting. And your dad needs to wake up and see how awful that is to think. It’s just your body. You can’t change it and you shouldn’t have to hide it just to not be verbally assaulted."
The woman then added an update to say: "I talked to my brother on the phone last night who is a big supporter. I told him I am putting down strict guidelines my parents have to follow if they want to keep seeing me.
"If they don’t follow those, I will cut off contact. I am scared to do this but also kind of excited."
