I generally like to start out my columns with a fun little anecdote, or some introductory moment — a hook that grabs the reader. This time, I’m just going to come out and say it, no beating around the bush. Men on BGSU’s campus — stop touching women in the bars.

Firstly, I know that there are men out there who don’t do this. To those men, I would say, “Great!” But don’t think you’re completely off the hook. Examine yourselves for the ways that you allow latent sexism and misogyny to manifest in the world around you.

Secondly, I know bars are a place of dancing and hand-holding and arm-brushing, and touching is in some ways desired and/or unavoidable. I am not arguing we all stand exactly a foot apart (though the imagery of us all going to the bars armed with rulers in our hands is quite amusing).

Now, the people to whom I am referring are the men who decide, despite the obvious amount of space between a woman and another person/object/wall, there is some sort of need to reach out and stroke the elbow or touch the back (or even lower) of the woman in question.

This is honestly pretty simple. In the cases where touching is unavoidable, there are still ways to ensure that the touching is nothing more than a mere inconvenience of a crowded bar. Examples are keeping your hands near your chest, using your fingertips to ward off any bumps or using your forearm as a barrier. Do whatever is going to be most comfortable for both you and the people you are running into.

But there are many cases where touching is avoidable — don’t scoot closer to a woman while she is dodging out of your way. Don’t squeeze a woman out of the safe corner she has found. Don’t just suddenly begin dancing with a woman you don’t know (and even if you do know her, always ask. Consent is of the utmost importance in any and every situation).

To the bystanders at the bar, let me say this: there are ways to help out. If you are with others and you notice them in an uncomfortable position, you can switch places with them, use your own arms as a barrier, help them get to a safer place and even talk to the person who touched them and ask them to keep their hands to themselves.

I know the reverse can happen — men can be touched in unwanted ways by women. I also recognize different sexualities and gender identities, and the intersectionalities that impact the experience people have with sexual harassment (and in cases, sexual assault or battery). I will iterate there are people who will not find this to be an issue, or who know this is an issue but do not contribute to it.

However, these understandings of the issue make the issue no less valid or hurtful for the people who do experience these slights. And, these slights are no small thing. They contribute to people’s understanding of their place in the world.

Women: you are worth so much more than your bodies. The hurts you have felt are valid, and you are not crazy or dramatic or emotional or any other incarnation of those words for feeling emotion equal to the wrongs that have been done you.

Back to those to whom I address in this article — those men who insist on propagating power and control dynamics in a bar setting. To you, I say as I would say to any small child who breaks the societal etiquette of boundaries and personal space: “Keep your hands to yourself!”