Mayo 7, 2025

"The 'rawdogging' phenomenon has apparently gone underground, with young subway-riding professionals... star[ing] at their fellow commuters instead of a book or their phone..."

"... an alleged form of rebellion against return-to-office policies. Curiously dubbed 'barebacking,' the NSFW-sounding practice involves forgoing all tech and either gazing into space or — even worse — making repeated, awkward eye contact with other passengers ...."

The NY Post reports, with a link to a TikTok video that seems to be the wrong link. It goes to something on a completely different subject.

I think the Post is getting pranked here, but it is funny to think of protesting in that manner. The person who just wants to be able to stay at home is not the kind of person who invites conflict on the subway. Upping the slang confusion is another tell.

30 komento:

FormerLawClerk ayon kay ...

This is a really good way to get stabbed in the face and your dead body made love to.

Randomizer ayon kay ...

This sounds like an activity that media is trying to make a thing, and a thing needs a name.

Why would acting neurodivergent on public transportation share a term with the practice of having sex without a condom? No reason, just make sure you know your memes.

Is 100,000 views on TikTok considered popular?

Nancy ayon kay ...

Rawdogging like barebacking is slang for having sex without a condom. It seemed an odd term for flying without entertainment.

Leland ayon kay ...

Homeless pushing people onto tracks? A story to cover after the event. Riders not doing anything distracting but sitting in their seat with their eyes open? Woah, someone should look into this abnormal behavior now.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Rawdogging, never.
Manspreading, maybe
Mansplaining, always.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Subway ride
I stare in defiance
Office Rebellion

Christopher B ayon kay ...

I dunno about pranked. If you connect this with the 'rawdogging' on long flights as a test of endurance, it sounds more like being able to boast about staring down potential assailants (maybe imaginary) or being able to joke about making other people uncomfortable. A protest of returning to work makes no sense except as some reporter's lame stab at connecting something they've seen or vaguely heard about with current events.

Bob Boyd ayon kay ...

Rawdogging used to mean something in this country. Pathetic.
Imagine being such a pussy that instead of skydiving or rock climbing or getting into a bar fight, you go out and spike your adrenaline by making eye contact with a stranger.

Mike (MJB Wolf) ayon kay ...

I support this (possibly fake) "protest" only because anything, even peer pressure, that results in fewer people staring at tiny screens in public is GOOD for everybody.

Aggie ayon kay ...

Filed under 'Space-filling stories that didn't happen'. Raw-dogging is sitting stoically, doing nothing but living inside one's thoughts with aplomb. Staring at other passengers on the subway or anywhere else is called 'aggression', not 'raw-dogging'.

Bob Boyd ayon kay ...

WFH'er stares at a stranger. Stranger scowls. WFH'er looks down at his lap. Instead of man-spreading there's a stain spreading. WFH'er videos it to share online.

Breezy ayon kay ...

Gosh, I was a pro at this thirty years ago. I let myself go. Ugh.

Yancey Ward ayon kay ...

Staring relentlessly at subway passengers will be a thing right up until one of them gets blown away.

Howard ayon kay ...

Talk about living a life of quiet desperation.

Lazarus ayon kay ...

What is this "rawdogging" and "barebacking" that the commuters are doing?

Does it involve having sex with corpses on the subway?

Lazarus ayon kay ...

What is this "rawdogging" and "barebacking" that the commuters are doing?

Does it involve having sex with corpses on the subway?

Anthony ayon kay ...

New York is weird and New York media is even weirder.

Jupiter ayon kay ...

"I think the Post is getting pranked here ...". Or the Post is trying to prank someone. They can't just not print the paper, because there wasn't anything interesting to say.

PM ayon kay ...

"I don't wanna go to an office!"

Jamie ayon kay ...

If it really were a protest, it'd be a very lame one.

Our daughter, when her infant will was crossed at age 2 or so, would occasionally very deliberately lie face-down on the floor and start kicking one foot, staring up at us to gauge the effectiveness of her actions. The effect, needless to say, was to convulse us with laughter.

Now, I do think that staring fixedly at strangers on a NYC subway might have a stronger effect, but I doubt it'd be the desired one.

Ignorance is Bliss ayon kay ...

The serious protestors rawdog corpses.

loudogblog ayon kay ...

"the NSFW-sounding practice"

That's because the original definition of "rawdogging" is to have unprotected sex. Yet another example of language appropriation.

Josephbleau ayon kay ...

MOM, he’s looking at me!

Anthony ayon kay ...

I admit to rather liking this phrase, although I latched onto it before I learned its previous/original meaning and now I feel bit squicky using it (although I've never said it aloud).

Eg., DAMN it, my earbuds didn't charge! Looks like I'm gonna have to rawdog this run.

Michael ayon kay ...

Whenever on public transport, I put away the phone and tablet. Situational awareness is your best defense.

Narr ayon kay ...

Glazed Rawdogs would be a good name for a band.

Ty ayon kay ...

They call it "cheesing", because it's FON to DUE.

Marc in Eugene ayon kay ...

Just finished the nightly skim at the Daily Mail; there is an article there about someone on CBS using the term 'rawdogging' in their coverage of the beginning of the Sacred College's Conclave and the supposed scandal this has occasioned (as if any of the faithful expect something other than dirt from CBS). I wasn't really paying much attention because I've been distracted trying to watch a terribly ridiculous movie (starring Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr) called Transylvania 6-5000.

john mosby ayon kay ...

If people protested by actually having unprotected sex on the subway, it would get more attention.

Or everyone would start commuting again....

JSM

Bunkypotatohead ayon kay ...

‘All of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone’

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