Oh, I'm all in favour of self-defense courses and sensible reduction of risks, as well as education the children (male and female, on both risks and responsibilities, for that matter). And I agree, letting people know that the world is unfair, and let's find a sensible way to live with that is a good interim measure while we try to make the world fairer :-)
But the advice never fails to irritate me firstly because, as you may have gathered, it does tend to be patronising when directed at adult women (which, sadly, it often is), and secondly because on all four occasions when I have been attacked I have been in allegedly 'safe' situations - broad daylight, in the company of people I knew, etc. And it irritates me beyond belief that the first question asked on the occasion I told someone else about one of these events was "Well, what were you wearing?"!!
Which has the odd (and admittedly foolish) effect that I'm fairly sanguine about walking around the city at night if I must, because if I decide to be paranoid about risk situations, I have to be paranoid about walking home from work in broad daylight, which is just silly. And my little inner unionist points out that if enough women DID wander around the city at night as if it were safe, it would eventually become safer...
Sorry, I am definitely losing any thread of argument I might have had. And I'm not disagreeing with you so much as quibbling at bits of it...
Catherine, much less argumentative than she looks. Really.
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But the advice never fails to irritate me firstly because, as you may have gathered, it does tend to be patronising when directed at adult women (which, sadly, it often is), and secondly because on all four occasions when I have been attacked I have been in allegedly 'safe' situations - broad daylight, in the company of people I knew, etc. And it irritates me beyond belief that the first question asked on the occasion I told someone else about one of these events was "Well, what were you wearing?"!!
Which has the odd (and admittedly foolish) effect that I'm fairly sanguine about walking around the city at night if I must, because if I decide to be paranoid about risk situations, I have to be paranoid about walking home from work in broad daylight, which is just silly. And my little inner unionist points out that if enough women DID wander around the city at night as if it were safe, it would eventually become safer...
Sorry, I am definitely losing any thread of argument I might have had. And I'm not disagreeing with you so much as quibbling at bits of it...
Catherine, much less argumentative than she looks. Really.