nerad@closus.DEC (09/18/84)
>How about the study of some form of martial arts or other forms of self >defense? >Ed Turner >astrovax!elt Reminder: If you're not part of the problem, you're part of the solution. The first promoters of a solution are the precipitators :-) *sigh* Every so often I see this proposed as a "solution" to violent crime against women. There are several fallacies in this: >I certainly don't think this is the answer for everyone, but it would >probably be valuable to many women who would not ordinarily be inclined >toward such things. ... For one thing, there's a difference between deterring violence and stopping it. Nevertheless: This doesn't stop violence unless all women can learn it. (Many areas teachers are not available; many subcultures it is not acceptable.) This doesn't stop violence unless all women can perform it. (i.e. women of extreme age groups, women who are pacifists, women who are subject to panic.) This doesn't stop violence unless all women WILL defend themselves. It isn't the answer for women until it is the answer for all women. There will always be women who are perceived as victims. Attacks will not stop because of "a good defense is the best offense" attitudes. FEWER attacks will be successful, though. Women don't need martial training in most cases, at any rate. They need street-wise training, or assertiveness training--training against victim mentality. You can learn rote attacks till the exercise mat and your patience wear thin, but if you don't change your attitudes about fighting back, you won't use the skills in a crisis situation. >One advantage of self defense training (according to a few women I know who >have tried it) is that it is of great help in dealing with the fear of >being attacked even if you never have to use it. Some people, some of which are women, abhor violence in any form, and would rather be a victim than commit a violent act. Must we force these people to change their attitudes because of the unlawfulness of less desirable minority? Better to remove the cause of fear than to replace fear with violence and hate if that is possible. But how? Codified: Some men commit violent crimes against women. Some women learn to commit violent crimes against men. Some women do not defend themselves and are victims. Crimes against women do not stop, because some women will not defend, using violence. Therefore: Only when all women learn to be violent, will violence against women stop. BUT: Some women shun violence in any form. Therefore: (A) All women must be willing to do violence Some women (who shun violence) must be made to be willing to do violence. OR: (B) An alternative must be found to violence in reaction to violence. Solution (B) is probably no harder that (A), which I believe is probably impossible, not to mention undesireable. We NEED gentle, non-violent people. I went through changes in my life that made me capable of violence--I was trained against it as a child very thoroughly. My father is an ardent pacifist. I would not want to force peacefully minded people (which in theory includes every member of the Society of Friends, not to mention B'Hais, Unitarians, and other nice people who profess to pacifism) to have to change to face the brutality that can color the face of one's world viewpoint. An alternative must be found, because violence in response to violence is neither valid as a universal solution, nor (I believe) supportable as a way of life. SO...Is there any hope? Shava Nerad Telematic Systems (@DEC Ed. Svcs.) {decvax, allegra}!decwrl!rhea!closus!nerad
jorge@parallel.UUCP (Jorge Gustavson) (09/21/84)
<munch>
I agree with Ed Turner (astrovax) that self-defense techniques
(NOT martial arts) is a good idea. Rape is a crime of domination and
humiliation, not sex (although sexually linked, in some way). Younger
women (might) have a greater incidence of rape as a population (perhaps,
as someone suggested) because they are more inexperienced and vulnerable,
hence tempting targets for sickos who need to get off on this kind of thing.
Another step in the right direction is to RADICALLY alter the way
police and society deals with both rapists and their victims. Some have
suggested MUCH stiffer penalties; I am not sure if that works. (Women
Against Rape in Santa Cruz claims that peer confrontation in a public
setting is more effective than prosecution, especially in discouraging
repeated rape behavior). Some have suggested rehabilitation (as a sickness);
again, ???
One thing is clear, however. We must remove the burden of guilt
from the victims, and encourage women to break with current societal
conditioning to the point where a rapist must contemplate the possibility
of being SEVERELY injured when attacking a so-called "weak and dominatible"
woman, on the streets, or in her home.
------------
Jorge Gustavson
{ucbvax!sun,sri-unix}!parallel!jorge
"And if you stop and think about it, you won't beleive it's true,
That all the love you've been giving has all been meant for you."