:: The Bitch Girls ::

:: Saturday, November 02, 2002 ::

Girls, Girls, Girls! I just discovered the blog of Rachel Lucas. I must say, I love it. Anyway, in cruising around her posts (with special attention to ones marked "Guns, Guns, Guns!") I found an older post that is worth reading.

Female fear, as it's sometimes called, sucks. I was reading Gun Women by Mary Zeiss Stange and Carol Oyster this summer. They had an excellent chapter in the book that dealt with this fear that women must live with. It's incredibly hard to explain without sounding paranoid. It just seems to be in the back of your head that when there's creepy guy a little close to you, a man might think the guy wants to rob him or at worst, kill him. A woman is likely thinking of the robbery, the possible murder AND rape. Now I know that obviously being killed sucks. It's not something I want to experience anytime soon. However, it's the point that while men and women both have something to fear, women have the added fears of rape. After taking a RAD class, I found myself much more aware of everything going on around me. Perhaps it may mean that I seem a little more paranoid. However, I also feel like I could take care of myself to a degree. If I could, I would carry pepperspray and a firearm as more lines of defense. However, because some states have really stupid laws, I can't do either one of those things.

Another interesting thing about this subject came up last night at the firearms safety course I attended. I spoke with the police officer running it about his other classes that he teaches. He said that in his personal protection course they run a scenario where women are supposed to draw the firearm as a man approaches. Once he hits a certain line on the floor, they are supposed to pull the trigger. Obviously they give them a fake plastic gun. Anyway, the guy approaches with a knife, is trying to be cool and all, but does give some clues that he's going to abduct her. Anyway, he said that only about 30% draw, and less than 10% actually pull the trigger. Then he commented that he thinks I would be the only woman he currently knows who would pull the firearm and trigger without hesitation. :)

Granted, I know many women who are alive today because of defensive use of a firearm. There are things that have happened to women I know that I wish I never knew. It hurts me to know another human being could be so cruel. However, my goal is to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Self Defense is a Basic Human Right.

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:: Bitter 5:17 PM [+] ::
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