Understand? Me neither.

I’m really sick of hearing the whole ‘it’s not THAT big of a deal’ apology. If you’re a woman who is offended by something that was “meant to be a joke” you’re making a big deal out of nothing.

* The “I’m sorry if you were offended” (rather than, sorry they did something offensive)

* “strictly as a joke” (as if saying something offensive, and following it up with “I was just joking!” isn’t the behaviour of twelve-year-old bullies)

* calling the response “virulent” (really? Two sentences of explanation why this was offensive, with a little bit of profanity (but of course, when it comes to responding to shaming or misogyny, any response is too much — we’re supposed to be ashamed, not outraged))

* and, as you pointed out, the “mountain out of a molehill” claims of over-reaction.

But most importantly, if they take the sign down, that’s enough. The important part is not that they apologise gracefully. It’s not really, in my eye, that they understand. It’s that every single act of casual misogyny creates the environment in which that misogyny is considered perfectly normal. So one fewer sign out there normalizing body-shaming is a win.