The charter guests from the last episode of Below Deck were out of hand. One of the female guests wore a mesh bathing suit as she made a play for an admittedly tempted Ashton Pienaar. Meanwhile, one of the guys continually sexually harassed Simone Mashile. He talked about “bending her over” in the bathroom and made additional comments about a garter she had on her thigh for a pirate-themed day.
It was so uncomfortable to watch as an outsider. I can’t even imagine how Simone felt on the receiving end of such lewd behavior. Captain Lee Rosbach chimed in on Twitter and I have to. be honest: he really put his foot in his mouth. He tried to backtrack and explain himself, but Twitter wasn’t having it. And neither was Simone, Rhylee Gerber, or Abbi Murphy.
While live-tweeting Monday’s episode, Captain Lee wrote, “Simone, I would lose the garter around the primary, just saying. That to him is a green light. He’s still in his sophomore year.” Why does it matter what she’s wearing? It’s that man’s behavior that should matter.
Simone clapped back with “No no. The greenlight here is the normalization of victim blaming when it comes to sexual harassment. Instead of calling the perpetrators out on their bad behaviour. All this says is men dont need to behave better,women need to make it easier for them to behave….”
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Simone also tweeted, “Why the hell did I just wake up to people telling me to make it easier for sexual harassers, not to sexually harass women? Where do I even begin with this! – definitely NOT okay.”
Rhylee chimed in with “Chauvinism is alive and well and it starts from the top. @SimoneMashile you are beautiful strong and you were incredibly too kind towards the charter guest. I’m proud of you for keeping your cool as long as you did! #belowdeck #bravotv #sexistboysclub.”
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Captain Lee insisted, “Not blaming anyone, had she worn that with another primary who wasn’t as drunk and obnoxious would’ve been fine, it was him not her. And that was the first time I saw it.” He also wrote, “I didn’t blame Simone, was just offering advice for future reference. Thats all.” If only you could see me cringing right now…
Simone tweeted, “There’s a difference btwn paying attention &being inappropriate. Cover it up?So in all efforts to NOT get harassed I shall wear long loose fitting clothes,a coat,gloves,scarf, glasses & A MASK ’cause God forbid I show ANYTHING a man may find attractive.” In response, Abbi told her, “But Simone you were wearing the required uniform… with a PIECE OF CLOTH around your thigh… I can’t believe this is even a debate. You didn’t do anything wrong! Clothing, no matter what, doesn’t warrant harassment. Ugh. Sorry u dealt with that!”
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Some Below Deck viewers told Simone that it was “unnecessary” to wear the garter. She clarified that it was a part of the female pirate costume and emphasized that the charter guest was “inappropriate from day one. Before the garter made its onscreen appearance.” EXACTLY!
