A beautiful blonde woman decided to turn vigilante on the subway after seeing what numerous men were doing. She is now unapologetically and readily attacking men who all made the same “mistake.”
Anna Dovgalyuk, a 20-year-old Russian law student and social activist, is no stranger to controversial videos. In fact, she’s becoming well known for pulling viral stunts to get her feminist point across. Her latest involves unsuspecting men on the subway and a water bottle full of diluted bleach.
After Anna enters the public transit, she keeps a watchful eye out for offenders of “manspreading,” which is where a man sits with his legs spread wide. When she sees a guilty, unsuspecting male with his legs ajar, she uses the opportunity to douse him with her bleach concoction, making sure to soak his crotch as much as possible.
Although some refer to Anna’s efforts as a mild form of vigilante justice, others call it what it is: Assault. I mean, if a woman can be convicted of assault for throwing water at someone, pouring a bleach solution on strangers should definitely fit the bill as well. But, Anna believes her attack is justified.
According to the feminist, “manspreading” is a form of “gender aggression,” Daily Mail reports. And, she’s simply trying to combat it on public transit by targeting the groin area of those she deems guilty of the offense. She isn’t making any apologies for it, either. Instead, she seems to be bragging about her efforts.
“This solution is 30 times more concentrated than the mixture used by housewives when doing the laundry,” she said. “It eats colors in the fabric in a matter of minutes – leaving indelible stains.” And, she happily reports that it’s working, saying, “We not only cooled the manspreading down but also marked them with identification spots!”
With the video capturing many of her attacks and Anna Dovgalyuk bragging about how her efforts are paying off, she has drawn some negative attention, but she’s adamant her actions were necessary. According to Anna, since Russia wasn’t taking action to curtail the behavior — even after other cities, such as Madrid, began to take a stand against manspreading on public transit — she had to target perpetrators herself to teach them a lesson and make a statement.
But, as Anna asserts that she is acting “on behalf of everyone who has to endure the manifestations of you declaring your macho qualities on public transportation,” a Russian news outlet is claiming her video is nothing more than a sham. Instead of targeting random commuters, the outlet alleges we are only seeing bad actors.
Anna, of course, denies that the footage is staged. “My action is absolutely real,” she stated. That’s increasingly difficult to believe when she also says no one has taken legal action against her, such as suing for damage to their clothing or contacting law enforcement. “I don’t think people are going to go to the police to file a report about jeans,” she says.
But, there are no reports of anyone retaliating either. Couple that with the fact that this isn’t her first seemingly attention-grabbing video, it’s hard to know if she or the footage is genuine. After all, this is the same girl who, although she can’t stand men spreading their legs on the subway, lifted her skirt for passersby at the train station. Of course, she says that was to combat harassment and upskirting. Regardless, it’s no wonder people think this is just another publicity stunt for internet fame.
Here is what we do know: This sets a bad example. You don’t get to physically attack someone because you don’t like their rude, yet legal, behavior. No one has the right to destroy another person’s property over a difference of opinion, not even when it comes to manners. Would it be nice if everyone on public transit respected the personal space of others? Sure! Can you douse them with a substance that’s known to be an irritant which you are well aware will cause damage to their clothes and possible their skin? You most certainly cannot.
