lori@hp-pcd.UUCP (04/11/84)
[ my first sacrifice to the notes eater]
<........... One comment I made with which the
<others agreed was that until attacking a woman is perceived to be as
<dangerous to the attacker as attacking a man, victimization of women would
<continue.........Women are viewed by others and by themselves as easy marks.
<If we learn to defend ourselves on the streets, we can work toward
<image.
< Which brings me to the real point of this article - the image of women
<as victims........
< Does anyone else share my belief that one sure way to reduce the
<incidence of rape and assault on women is to convince would-be attackers
<that they are likely to face a fight? .......
<
<Sherry Marts
<!decvax!duke!phs!sam
I genenerally agree with you, Sherry. Your comments bring to mind a book
by a well know author of science fiction. The title is "Thendara House"
by Marion Zimmer Bradley. She has 'developed' a society on another planet
were women in some extremes are considered chattel. ( sound familar? from
history, perhaps). Except in this story line, Ms. Bradley deplicts a
society of women that live outside the restrictions this planets society
has placed on women. The heroine of the story was an offworlder, raised
as a child in this society and then sent offworld for training by the
offworld government. The idea was to give her the normal training (self
image) of the offworlders, while being able to understand the Darkoven (sp?)
society. Therefore she had all!!! the self defense training, and self image
of the offworlders as long as she was with offworlders!!!. When she found
herself thrust into the Darkoven society, her offworld training and child-
hood training were at odds. As a child, she had been taught to allow her
male relatives to protect and care for her no matter what. As a lone
woman in the Darkoven society, she was a victim. The Sisterhood was
the exception to the rule. They were women, who had taken a vow of not
allowing men to rule their lives, and therefore learned the way of the
sword to protect themselves since they therefore could not call upon men
to always protect them. A part of their philosophy, was quite simple.
Never shirk any job that the woman can competently do, whether physical
or mental. i.e. NEVER defer to a man, if you can do the job! These women
developed their self image to the point where they didnot consider them-
selves to be victims, and quite naturally the men followed suit.
This has gone on long enough. It is difficult to describe the intricate
society in a short summary. It was interesting reading and pointed out
several philosophys currently running through todays culture.
-Lori Cook
-!hp-pcd!lori
-Hewlett-Packard
-Corvallis,Oregon
P.S. All quotes and synopsis are taken without consent of the authors.
My intention is not to misquote any author. If I did -SORRY!sam@phs.UUCP (04/11/84)
---------
I recently spoke with some women who live in a neighborhood which
is currently being terrorized by a rapist -there have been 5 reported and
probably a total of 20 rapes in their neighborhood in the past 5 weeks.
We were discussing ways of coping both with this specific threat and with
the threat of rape and assault in general. One comment I made with which the
others agreed was that until attacking a woman is perceived to be as
dangerous to the attacker as attacking a man, victimization of women would
continue. Of course, men are still attacked on the streets, but I think
it is reasonable to assume that the number of attacks involving a male
attacker and a female victim is far greater than either those involving
a male attacker and a male victim, or a female attacker and a male victim.
Women are viewed by others and by themselves as easy marks. If we learn
to defend ourselves on the streets, we can work toward changing that image.
Which brings me to the real point of this article - the image of women
as victims. What if the victim in the New Bedford gang rape case had
SUCCESSFULLY fought off her attackers and gone home. How much publicity
would that event have generated? Would there have been national headlines:
"Would-be victim vanquishes attackers", "Woman escapes gang rape on pool
table"? I'm not trying to say that the news media are conspiring to keep
women off the streets at night - after all, they don't print stories about
men escaping from attacks either. However, this selective reporting
serves to reinforce the image of woman as victim: it's going to happen
to you, too, sweetie, and there's not a lot you can do about it. There
ARE success stories, women DO fight off attackers and survive. The local
women's karate association has a collection of such stories which they
display at their self-defense workshops. They describe situations ranging
from a pat on the behind by a stranger on a bus to life-threatening attacks
in the home, in which women (in the majorty of cases, not trained in
martial arts) successfully challenged the attacker and
survived the assault. Out of over a hundred such stories, only about
5 had been reported in the press, only 2 received large headlines. The
rest had been reported in newsletters from women's self-defense groups and
rape crisis centers, or martial arts magazines.
Does anyone else share my belief that one sure way to reduce the
incidence of rape and assault on women is to convince would-be attackers
that they are likely to face a fight? How would you respond to increased media
coverage of women's survival stories? Would you consider writing your
local newspapers and television stations to let them know how you feel?
Sherry Marts
!decvax!duke!phs!samellen@unisoft.UUCP (04/16/84)
My first reaction to convincing would-be attackers that they are going to be in for a fight is that this might convince would-be attackers to be sure to have a weapon. ellen