Hi folks, before I pitch this idea I would like to make clear that this is not an avocation of stalking, or the like. I have often seen attractive women in public be it a store, park etc. The idea of a story of someone who follows them just to watch their everyday activates has some appeal but would be difficult to write. The excitement coming from watching someone you find sexy with out their knowledge aside from during a sex act. The idea came to me while shopping (I was way bord, it was clothes shopping with the wife) I noticed a man checking out a young mother doing her shopping. I watched him watch her; she was attractive but did nothing that would be considered ‘sexy’. I told the wife I was going to the electronics section and followed him following her. He eventually left and I followed him and saw him checkout. After watching to many crime shows I had already had him pegged as a kidnapper or worse. But this wasn’t the case and the idea began to form. I am sure many enjoy girl watching or guy watching, it would take a writer with some subtly to keep this kind of story from moving over the line to creepy. But I think it could be a welcome change from the typical voyeur tale. Any thoughts?
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Virtual_Burlesque
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Just an observation from my own point of view.
There are some women who might enjoy being followed and spied upon by a good-looking stranger.
Taking your example: It is just as likely that your new mother – too busy and tired from looking after a demanding infant – finds that being followed and spied upon is the only form of sexual activity for which she has either the time or energy to participate in.
She might even go so far as to subtly reward the ogler for his diligence. It might take the form or an occasional unnecessary crouch to pick her toddler up, accidentally exposing a flash of thigh and panties, or leaning down in just such a way as to allow him a peek down her revealing decollate. She might even resort to some rather clumsy breast-feeding while he is rubbernecking in her direction.
Your story might be comprised of a series of women whom he follows, your hero not quite reaching the level of a stalker because he eventually is seduced away by an even more rewarding target. Whether his prey forms a series of women covered quickly in a single story, or whether each woman becomes the subject of a single chapter in a continuing series, the “co-operative” young mother would be withheld as his final prey in the final example, where he suddenly discovers that it is not she who is the victim of his fetish, but rather that he has become the victim of her fetish.
There are some women who might enjoy being followed and spied upon by a good-looking stranger.
Taking your example: It is just as likely that your new mother – too busy and tired from looking after a demanding infant – finds that being followed and spied upon is the only form of sexual activity for which she has either the time or energy to participate in.
She might even go so far as to subtly reward the ogler for his diligence. It might take the form or an occasional unnecessary crouch to pick her toddler up, accidentally exposing a flash of thigh and panties, or leaning down in just such a way as to allow him a peek down her revealing decollate. She might even resort to some rather clumsy breast-feeding while he is rubbernecking in her direction.
Your story might be comprised of a series of women whom he follows, your hero not quite reaching the level of a stalker because he eventually is seduced away by an even more rewarding target. Whether his prey forms a series of women covered quickly in a single story, or whether each woman becomes the subject of a single chapter in a continuing series, the “co-operative” young mother would be withheld as his final prey in the final example, where he suddenly discovers that it is not she who is the victim of his fetish, but rather that he has become the victim of her fetish.
You know, that's a theme that I've been thinking about playing around with, maybe writing a monologue. Hard to deal with the non-consentuality issue. Does someone, just by being out in public, implicitly consent to a certain amount of voyeurism? Probably not. I also think it's possible to be an accidental stalker, which is an interesting idea to explore. There's a cute girl on the commuter train who gets on and off at the same stop as me, and often around the same time. I've noticed her on a few occasions; she's cute, in the bookish way that appeals to me. I've certainly never gone out of my way to follow her. Then the other day, as I was walking from the train to my place, I became aware of her on the other side of the street, walking roughly parrellel to me, and then crossing the street behind me. At this point, I heard the jingle of keys, and glanced over my shoulder, to see her go up to the front door of her place. So suddenly I know where she lives. Maybe, subliminally, I put myself in a situation to find that out--I don't know, I certainly don't think so. Anyway, my point being that there's a slim line between chance observations and stalking.
Virtual_Burlesque
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Not so thin as you seem to believe.fogbank said:
Someone in a public place not only implicitly consents to being observed rather closely, they also implicitly consent to being photographed. It is only when that photograph is used in any way to advertise a product, or in a piece of fiction that might imply an alternate interpretation than documentary fact, that their permission must be sought to publish the photograph.
If this were not the case, there would be no reason for police detainees using a hand, or a hat, etc., to obscure their face during a perp. walk.
Your idea that anyone who looks closely or follows another person is guilty of stalking would put us all at the mercy of the vagaries of every paranoid’s delusion.
There is a considerable difference between watching, even following, and stalking.
Stalking implies not only looking and following, but also collecting information such as her name, address, job, where she shops, what she shops for, who her friends are, what she reads, what kind of interest groups she participates in, what causes she supports, her political affiliation, where she goes when not at home, what she does there, and who she meets.
This is the sort of information that an overzealous fan might obsess over, but even that isn’t quite stalking.
It is stalking only when all the watching, and searching, and invading of privacy, and collection of personal data, and interests and enthusiasms are used toward creating an interaction with the observed subject. That is when the watcher actually fulfills the legal definition of a stalker.
When he goes beyond looking and interacts with his subject using the information obtained by stealth to convince the stalked person that their unusual similarity of likes and opinions should result in the establishment of a closer connection.
It could also be that this information convinces the stalker that the connection is actually desired by the person being stalked. This enters the realm of mental disorder, and — when discovered — is quickly quashed.
For clarity, I have used masculine gender as the stalker and feminine for the prey, but of course both sexes could fill either role. Nor is it necessary that someone stalks the opposite sex.
Finally, when information gained in the above described manner is used to predict the sentiments, or control the actions of a subject, the perpetrator is also taking part in an illegal act — unless, of course, his boss’ name is John Ashcroft.
