Years ago, when I first ran into the fact that most women are socialized into avoiding things like walking places alone at night because of the fear of rape, I commented that I did a bunch of the things on the list and wasn't much afraid of rape. (Hey, look, here's (http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2004/05/05/how-many-men-are-rapists/) the comment thread. I guess that wasn't all that many years ago. Feels longer.)
Yes, I felt that it made me weird. Or -- hm. I guess I more feel that now. At the time it struck me as very odd that other women were that scared about the possibility, and I didn't really see where that was coming from, because I hadn't gotten quite the same socialization. I theorized about my attitude / body language as a factor, too, in hopes that it could be useful to some of the women who were scared.
The culture definitely does send the message that women should fear rape and curtail their activities to avoid situations that are perceived as particularly dangerous, and I have seen more examples of it doing that now than I had at the time, so I am less confused about why other women experience that fear and therefore less inclined to examine why I don't and what the differences might possibly be.
I have been sexually assaulted. Kind of. I should tell that story sometime.
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Yes, I felt that it made me weird. Or -- hm. I guess I more feel that now. At the time it struck me as very odd that other women were that scared about the possibility, and I didn't really see where that was coming from, because I hadn't gotten quite the same socialization. I theorized about my attitude / body language as a factor, too, in hopes that it could be useful to some of the women who were scared.
The culture definitely does send the message that women should fear rape and curtail their activities to avoid situations that are perceived as particularly dangerous, and I have seen more examples of it doing that now than I had at the time, so I am less confused about why other women experience that fear and therefore less inclined to examine why I don't and what the differences might possibly be.
I have been sexually assaulted. Kind of. I should tell that story sometime.