An informal poll about attitudes - REVISED

[unixronin]

Caution:  May be inflammatory.

Just for the sake of possibly-morbid curiosity:  I direct you to this article that perspicuity pointed out to me elsewhere.  Please go and read it.  Particularly the beginning.

Now, please answer only one poll.  First up, asking my readers of the feminine persuasion here:

[Poll #1472271]

For my chromosomally heterogeneous readers, I offer the following alternate poll with your own seven eight choices:

[Poll #1472272]

My personal feeling is that if you regard every male as a probable rapist lacking only the opportunity, I want some way to know in advance, because if the very first thought that goes through a woman's head is, "Is that man going to try to rape me?", I don't even want to start a conversation.  I find the whole attitude insulting, to say the least.  It's way too high a disadvantage to start out having to first of all convince someone that you're not planning to rape or murder them, and if I knew in advance that I was going to be up against that, I'd move on immediately to talk to someone saner.  I don't know how people who approach the world with that kind of level of fear every day can even function, but I do believe that it's not my responsibility to walk on eggshells everywhere I go, just to avoid triggering someone else's paranoia.

(Heh.  I just discovered I have to answer both polls to be able to see the results of my own poll.  Pretty obviously, so does everyone else.  Please note I am RESUBMITTING to add a "Just show me the results" entry to each poll.  If you already voted, this means your vote will be lost.  Feel free to vote again.  We apologize for the confusion.)

Comments

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. (http://usmilitary.about.com/od/militaryhumor/a/gunrules.htm)

You could do worse.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Point. :)

I do observe, though, that it's not necessarily the most functional way to approach having or developing a social life.

[databeast.livejournal.com]

haha! bastard! You beat me to it!

Personally, I felt insulted by her insinuation that men don't consistently feel a paranoia that we may be called to action at any time by the actions of random nutbags; indeed, it is the constant paranoid whinnyings of harridan's like her that remind all well-meaning males that they may be AT ANY TIME! (oh noess!) be called upon to defend women from our fellows.

It's that fine line between 'readiness' and 'paranoia': one is enabling and fulfilling, allowing people to live without fear, the other is just fear given a programmatic output.