amq@topaz.rutgers.edu (Amqueue) (05/09/88)
In talking to a few friends, I have discovered a disturbing trend. They usually make reference to a few incidents in the past few years, one if which was made into quite a fuss, where a female was accosted and badly scared by a couple of males with a knife. (as far as I know, she was not physically injured.) These friends cite this as a general trend, and state that All Women Should Be Escorted. Maybe I should mention that most of the people that I have talked to who hold this view are male. Some of these people also suggest a curfew time, and claim that the women in their campsite will be confined by it. I would like to pose a few questions. Why are the victims of the potential crimes the ones being punished? Why *arent* the potential perpetrators being punished? and why do we have to select this particular aspect of the Middle Ages to recreate? While women were generally cloistered and protected during some years in the Middle Ages, there were also women who were perfectly able to take care of themselves, during many years. I dont want to get into the "Women Fighter" argument *IN this discussion thread*. However, I find it rather amusing, and rather offensive, to have people tell me that I need to be protected, and that I will be protected *even if I dont want to be*. I have no objection to escorting being available, nor even to a General Escorting Service being organized. However, I think a better reaction would be to teach women how to defend, or at least how to get enough breath to scream when scared (which is more difficult... the concept of the breath freezing in one's chest is real!), than to lock all the women away after dark. After all, it is the men doing the aggressing. They should be locked up, or curfewed, or quarantined. An instant objection to an optional escorting service: any woman who chooses to go unescorted is presenting a challenge by saying "I dont need an escort" and thus will draw more attackers. My instant answer: Bullshit. Get lost. Anyone who is so insecure as to have that much Machismo and need to prove it in that way can be gotten rid of by being systematically laughed at. C'mon women!!! Let's curfew the boys!!!!! /amq