Why women wear tight fitting clothes?

It sounds like some of my post may have been unclear, so I'll try to clarify some things.

Yes, I've had men publicly masturbate while staring at me. It's not a regular occurrence, and I didn't mean to imply that it was, but it's not something that should happen at all. It's happened twice in my life. No, I'm not saying they masturbated with their minds. I'm talking about people actually reaching into their pants. No, that isn't normal behaviour, but my point in bringing it up was to say that being stared at for a length of time significant enough to be uncomfortable is a more difficult experience when you're not sure if it might escalate. No, not all guys are pigs. Most men don't do that. I realise that. But it can be very difficult to report that kind of behaviour when I live in a culture where I don't know if I'm going to be blamed for it. I'm not accusing all men of that behaviour, I'm saying that we need to change our culture into one where when the occasional sicko does something like that, women can talk about it without being accused of bragging about their own attractiveness, causing the incident by dressing the wrong way, or making the whole thing up.

Everything I mentioned has happened over the course of years, not in rapid succession. But even a few experiences like that can go a long way in making somebody feel unsafe or uncomfortable. I never said "on a common basis". I have gotten a lot of honks and catcalls from passing cars (that used to happen on almost every walk I went on), but I think that might be particularly common in the city I live in. They don't do it so much now that I have my wheelchair, and I don't miss it.

I want to clarify the type of "tight clothes" I'm talking about, because I think that's one of the least clear things in this whole conversation. I'm not talking about wearing latex or spandex. The clothes I usually wear are more along the lines of fitted t-shirts, dresses with fitted (but not skin tight) tops, and jeans that fit properly. When I say "tight" in this case, I mean "not baggy".

Yes, my experiences have been different from yours. That's ok. It doesn't mean that I'm lying. There are a lot of reasons that our experiences may be different. We probably live in different places, and we may live in different cultures. Since you don't think that cars honking and slowing down is very common, I think we must live in very different areas, because where I live, it's absurdly common. I've talked to friends and family who've had similar experiences.

Also, you seem to be under the impression that I think a lot of my appearance. It was a little strange (and painful) to read, actually, because I don't. In fact, my body image is poor to the point of being crippling. I've been bulimic for quite a few years, and while I don't think poor body image necessarily caused my eating disorder, it's a big part of it for me. I'm struggling with recovery. If you don't believe me about that, there are several users here who can confirm it, including OswaldCobblepot, who's my husband, a few IINers who I know in real life, and one IINer who's quite well respected, but who I won't name here without permission. My bulimia is actually part of why it's important to me to wear clothes and makeup that I find flattering: it allows me to have some control over my body and appearance in a way that's not destructive.

Really, my point in posting about this would be null if I thought I were some sort of magical siren who makes men lose control. I'm not the only one who's had experiences like this, and I don't think that attractiveness necessarily has much to do with it. Basically my whole point is that sexual harassment isn't some sort of involuntary impulse that men have when they see women, that not harassing people isn't hard, and that harassment is common enough that staring, especially very obvious staring, makes some people feel unsafe.

Staring doesn't make you a pig or a bad person, but if somebody mentions that they feel uncomfortable with the way you or someone else stares at them, it seems to me like it's very basic respect and empathy to try to make that person feel safer, rather than telling them it's their fault. I don't want people to pity me, I'm not asking anybody to pretend their sexuality doesn't exist, and I'm certainly not bragging about my questionable looks. I brought up my experiences because some people honestly don't know that this sort of thing happens (including you, by the sound of it), and knowing about different people's different experiences can help people understand each other. All I'm asking for is a little consideration, a little respect, and a little empathy.