Reply #116: There's a fine and dangerous line here [View All]

One that I found very difficult to navigate back when I was helping teach a women's self defense course (my {female} sensei used me as the male dummy to beat up). On the one hand, it can only be a good thing (IMO) for women to adopt a more aggressive security posture and more proactively take charge of their own safety and sanctity. On the other hand, it's difficult to communicate that message without implying that the woman is somehow bringing abuse on herself or "deserving it" if she doesn't do that.

I normally dislike knee-jerk "equivalence" statements in women's issue threads, but the woman-as-victim perception is one thing that is, in my experience, perpetuated widely by both men and women, and a habit both sexes need to break.