It’s more than the probability, it’s the level of harm. It’s similar to how we protect our kids from paedos with a high degree of safety even though the risk is really low. It’s because the harm from a paedo is fucking huge. The harm a man can do to a woman is fucking huge, life shattering, soul destroying. Women go to lengths to avoid that because it does happen and it’s impossible to know when, where, who. The only truth we have is that it is a possibility now, here, with this stranger.
Do you you think death… Isn’t all of that? People die or are paralyzed in car accidents.
I’m with op, the risk analysis and responses of society are so batshit insane to me. Absolutely petrified of shit that never/rarely happens, completely ignoring the things actively and currently killing them.
You’re right that car accidents happen pretty frequently, and carry a high risk of lasting harm to those involved. This is why people have to pass a test in order to be allowed to drive, are legally required to have insurance, why speed limits and other road safety features exist, and why one of the roles of the police is to monitor and respond to dangerous drivers. Despite all these measures, road traffic accidents happen all the time, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do these things to try to reduce the likelihood and severity of car accidents. None of these precautions are airtight, but they do reduce the risk that road users face. We don’t ignore the risks of car accidents, we just do what we can to mitigate those risks and get on with our lives as best we can.
That’s how things are for the majority of women. Most of us are far from petrified of unknown men, we have just learned that there are things we can do to reduce the risk of us being harassed or assaulted — many of which don’t take much additional effort and are entirely reasonable precautions to take. Having to do these things is just a background annoyance for most women, because it sure would be nice if we didn’t have to spend time or energy of these things, but most of us have enough lived experience with having to interact with predatory men that it would be irrational not to take precautions.
There certainly are some women who do feel a much higher level of fear, but this is often associated with specific trauma, and is no different to how someone who had been in a bad car accident may feel uneasy driving at first. Risk exists everywhere, and learning what precautions you can easily take to reduce risk, and incorporating them into our lives isn’t us being controlled by fear, but quite the opposite. It can become harmful if it dominates too much of our thinking, but dynamically responding to mitigate risks is something that we all do, every day, to keep ourselves safe and well.
How many of those were by a random stranger though? I am not saying to be careless or that shit never happens to women. I’m just saying that people fixate on the rare things while not being careful around the common things.
It’s more than the probability, it’s the level of harm. It’s similar to how we protect our kids from paedos with a high degree of safety even though the risk is really low. It’s because the harm from a paedo is fucking huge. The harm a man can do to a woman is fucking huge, life shattering, soul destroying. Women go to lengths to avoid that because it does happen and it’s impossible to know when, where, who. The only truth we have is that it is a possibility now, here, with this stranger.
Do you you think death… Isn’t all of that? People die or are paralyzed in car accidents.
I’m with op, the risk analysis and responses of society are so batshit insane to me. Absolutely petrified of shit that never/rarely happens, completely ignoring the things actively and currently killing them.
What makes you think we don’t take as many reasonable precautions on the road too?
You’re right that car accidents happen pretty frequently, and carry a high risk of lasting harm to those involved. This is why people have to pass a test in order to be allowed to drive, are legally required to have insurance, why speed limits and other road safety features exist, and why one of the roles of the police is to monitor and respond to dangerous drivers. Despite all these measures, road traffic accidents happen all the time, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do these things to try to reduce the likelihood and severity of car accidents. None of these precautions are airtight, but they do reduce the risk that road users face. We don’t ignore the risks of car accidents, we just do what we can to mitigate those risks and get on with our lives as best we can.
That’s how things are for the majority of women. Most of us are far from petrified of unknown men, we have just learned that there are things we can do to reduce the risk of us being harassed or assaulted — many of which don’t take much additional effort and are entirely reasonable precautions to take. Having to do these things is just a background annoyance for most women, because it sure would be nice if we didn’t have to spend time or energy of these things, but most of us have enough lived experience with having to interact with predatory men that it would be irrational not to take precautions.
There certainly are some women who do feel a much higher level of fear, but this is often associated with specific trauma, and is no different to how someone who had been in a bad car accident may feel uneasy driving at first. Risk exists everywhere, and learning what precautions you can easily take to reduce risk, and incorporating them into our lives isn’t us being controlled by fear, but quite the opposite. It can become harmful if it dominates too much of our thinking, but dynamically responding to mitigate risks is something that we all do, every day, to keep ourselves safe and well.
Not to mention that rape by a stranger is literally the rarest type of rape, re relationship to the victim.
Women get raped all the fucking time, dude
I didn’t intend to say they don’t. Just that random strangers don’t usually do it.
Never/rarely happens? 1 in 5 women have been raped and we think those numbers are conservative due to self reporting issues.
How is that rare?
How many of those were by a random stranger though? I am not saying to be careless or that shit never happens to women. I’m just saying that people fixate on the rare things while not being careful around the common things.