Generally, we collectively recognize the groping and grabbing that happens with alarming frequency on public transportation, for example, as problematic—but many of the men who rightfully disdain this behavior nonetheless engage in casual touching without consent in other contexts. 

We euphemize nonconsensual but nonviolent touching as “making a pass” or even, simply, “being friendly.” But it is not friendly; it is entitled.

This tends to be a point of contention for straight/bisexual men who can’t imagine how it’s possible to meet, date, flirt with, and eventually become sexually intimate with a woman without ever touching her without her consent. The worry tends to be expressed as, “It won’t be sexy or smooth if I ask,” but that’s not true. Asking a woman, “May I take your arm?” or “May I kiss you?” is actually quite likely to be considered both sexy and smooth, with the additional bonus of being respectful.

What’s decidedly not sexy and smooth, however, is making a woman feel uncomfortable, or even triggering her, if she’s a trauma survivor, by touching her without her consent.

(Source: xyonline.net)