In Dating, “No, Thank You” Is Not the Start of a Negotiation

There’s a fine line between courting someone and harassment.

Gracia Kleijnen

Published in

Fearless She Wrote

5 min readJul 28, 2021

On the left: A character sitting on a bench, wearing glasses, reading a book. On the right: a male figure approaching the lone reader. Dialogue. Male speaking: “Hey! Would you like to go on a date with me?”. Character responds: “Huh? Oh, no, thank you, but I appreciate the invite.” Male thinking: “Select option: 1) ignore rejection, start negotiation 2) call names: Wh#re! Sl*t! You’re ugly!” 3) leave her alone. — Photo by James Garcia on Unsplash, illustrations by the author

Springtime in Berlin

“Hey, how are you doing?” I looked up from my phone and saw a man who I did not know. From his stance, I could see he was trying to make an advance. I applaud his bravery, as rejection always lurks…

In Dating, “No, Thank You” Is Not the Start of a Negotiation

There’s a fine line between courting someone and harassment.

Springtime in Berlin

Written by Gracia Kleijnen