Cobra, the kind of teasing you're talking about that is part of the male bonding experience is done BETWEEN OR AMONG PEERS. If it done between people who are not peers-- like parent/child, teacher/student-- the superior better do it (if at all) in very small amounts, with a great deal of love and affection, AND avoid particularly sensitive areas.

Thus, a father could not, in kindness and safety, tease a boy who was crippled about his athletic ability, although presumably he might LOVINGLY tease a crippled boy who was intellectually brilliant about losing a chess game.

Teasing an adolescent girl about budding breasts or getting her period would NEVER be a good thing for a father to do, although presumably a grown man might lovingly and sparingly tease his wife WITH WHOM HE HAS A GOOD AND SATISFYING SEX LIFE about her period. Surely you can see the difference?

I'm going with definitions 1 & 6:

tease /tiz/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[teez] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, teased, teas·ing, noun
–verb (used with object) 1. to irritate or provoke with persistent petty distractions, trifling raillery, or other annoyance, often in sport.
2. to pull apart or separate the adhering fibers of (wool or the like), as in combing or carding; comb or card, as wool; shred.
3. to ruffle (the hair) by holding it at the ends and combing toward the scalp so as to give body to a hairdo.
4. to raise a nap on (cloth) with teasels; teasel.
5. Also, teaser. Television Slang. a short scene or highlight shown at the beginning of a film or television show to attract the audience's attention.
–verb (used without object) 6. to provoke or disturb a person or animal by importunity or persistent petty annoyances.


I don't think he meant anything by it... he wasn't a cruel person, just depressed, angry, and socially inept. He had one brother and told me that he had never been around little girls ever until I was born. I don't hold this against him. He's been gone for almost 20 years... but the damage was done.

To re-iterate ;\) I didn't feel safe around him.