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

[beckyzoole.livejournal.com]

I think that I am much more familiar with her subtext than you are.

I have been in a crowded subway, standing and holding the strap, pressed up against someone who put his hand under my shirt. It was a startling experience. The training of "don't cause a scene in public" was strong. It took me more than a moment to overcome it, and I am someone who has no stage fright. A shy woman might not have said anything at all.

Again, look at the analogy to a jeweler with a briefcase full of diamond rings. When a stranger approaches him in his shop, or in another appropriate venue (at the home of a mutual friend, or at a jewelry exhibit), the jeweler will gladly open the case. On a lonely subway platform, the jeweler carrying a briefcase of diamond rings will not be so friendly.

My personal safety is more valuable to me than a box of diamonds!

(By the way, I have never been in a supermarket with a crowded and enclosed produce section -- but then, in the Midwest, supermarkets do tend to be well-lit and very spacious.)