mom@sftri.UUCP (M.Modig) (12/18/84)
Jeff Sonntag writes:
Maybe that's just it, maybe we DON'T know the apprehension women feel about
men walking on the streets.
Are you talking about reasonably well lit, non-empty streets in non-nasty
sections of town? Those are the only kind you're likely to find ME on,
anyway.
Throughout this discussion, I've thought about crossing the street, but
the whole thing seems as though it would look so SILLY. Unless you're talking
about streets which are nearly deserted, dark, etc.
Am I wrong here? Are you apprehensive on ordinary well-lit, peopled
streets in good parts of town? Or has this whole discussion included,
unstated, the idea that we are talking about nearly empty streets.
I have no problem in crossing in this latter instance, although I don't
usually travel in places like that myself, so I doubt if I'll often need to.
But surely we're not expected to cross back and forth avoiding women
on normal streets?
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Obviously, the attitude of the average woman walking down a street
and myself walking down the same street will probably be somewhat
different (although one should always be careful). Since it is
rather impractical to have a woman along for the ride to act as a
judge of how "threatening" a street is, I think that just using your
common sense would be enough.
For example, I live about three blocks or so from the
center of the town I live in. The center is a square with a little green
in the middle. This is one of the major shopping areas in town.
So, walking through here late at night, one is more likely to run
into a woman walking alone. The area is well-lit, though, with lots
of traffic, and there are two department stores, some restaturants,
a movie theater, etc., all in the general area. I really would not
feel an obligation to cross the street in this area because there
are so many people around (unless its about 2 am or later), and
besides, I would probably get run over. Now, the street I live on
is fairly dark at night, and there is not a great deal of traffic on
it at all. Here I would cross the street if I were to spot a woman
approaching.
Basically, I think it depends on how well-lit the area is, how
late it is, and whether there are a lot of people around or not. I
think anybody would generally feel less threatened when there are
people around then when you and this approaching stranger are the
only people you can see.
Mark Modig
ihnp4!attunix!mom