I like to be free to walk where I want, and I’m a woman. You’re saying (or rather, he is. I know y’all are better than this) that because a small percentage of women get raped in alleys every night, no women should be allowed to walk in alleys any night. How about we switch, and no men are allowed out at night at all? Because a small percentage of men commit rape each night, in all kinds of places.
Oh wait, a majority of rapists rape indoors, and rape the women they know well. Oh, and there’s a large overlap in the Venn diagram circles of “police” and “rapists.” And a larger overlap between “authorities” and “rapists who get away with it.” Shit, this problem is bigger than just telling people where to walk at night…
The problem is massive. Women get raped in parking lots. Women get raped on the subway. Women get raped by doctors. Women get raped in stairwells. Wherever women exist, we get raped.
Yeah, we all take precautions, but it’s impossible to totally protect ourselves from being raped, and moreover we shouldn’t need to protect ourselves. We ought to be able to live our lives openly with an expectation of safety.
Everyone needs to be able and should protect themselves. You’re right, we shouldn’t have to, but we live in a cruel, hard, world, full of bad people. Take precautions, be smart, don’t take unnecessary risks.
His phrasing is really poor, and he shouldn’t be talking about these two concepts together. He’s intentionally being controversial and causing outrage because it keeps him relevant and causes people to engage with him, which is his ultimate objective.
Of course you can walk wherever you want, but that doesn’t make it wise. I’m a 6’ tall, 200 lb male, ex-soldier, with fighting experience, who carries a 3" lock-blade pocketknife everywhere, and I still wouldn’t walk through a dark alley on the bad side of town. It’s unwise. Would I prefer to be able to go anywhere I want without unnecessary risks? Of course. Is that the reality I live in? Not even close.
I like to be free to walk where I want, and I’m a woman. You’re saying (or rather, he is. I know y’all are better than this) that because a small percentage of women get raped in alleys every night, no women should be allowed to walk in alleys any night. How about we switch, and no men are allowed out at night at all? Because a small percentage of men commit rape each night, in all kinds of places.
Oh wait, a majority of rapists rape indoors, and rape the women they know well. Oh, and there’s a large overlap in the Venn diagram circles of “police” and “rapists.” And a larger overlap between “authorities” and “rapists who get away with it.” Shit, this problem is bigger than just telling people where to walk at night…
The problem is massive. Women get raped in parking lots. Women get raped on the subway. Women get raped by doctors. Women get raped in stairwells. Wherever women exist, we get raped.
Yeah, we all take precautions, but it’s impossible to totally protect ourselves from being raped, and moreover we shouldn’t need to protect ourselves. We ought to be able to live our lives openly with an expectation of safety.
Men also get raped, which seems like yet more evidence that the problem just might be rapists; rather than, somehow, women not protecting themselves.
Everyone needs to be able and should protect themselves. You’re right, we shouldn’t have to, but we live in a cruel, hard, world, full of bad people. Take precautions, be smart, don’t take unnecessary risks.
His phrasing is really poor, and he shouldn’t be talking about these two concepts together. He’s intentionally being controversial and causing outrage because it keeps him relevant and causes people to engage with him, which is his ultimate objective.
Of course you can walk wherever you want, but that doesn’t make it wise. I’m a 6’ tall, 200 lb male, ex-soldier, with fighting experience, who carries a 3" lock-blade pocketknife everywhere, and I still wouldn’t walk through a dark alley on the bad side of town. It’s unwise. Would I prefer to be able to go anywhere I want without unnecessary risks? Of course. Is that the reality I live in? Not even close.