Today is a good day for me. I've felt more energetic and motivated this morning than I have for a long, long while.
And what better mood is there for a nice rant? ;D
First off, the context: who among my f-listers have seen the various chain emails, each describing an incident in which a woman was raped/injured/harmed by a man (usually a gang member, as a part of an initiation rite), that have been circling for
years? I once got the one about the gang member who hides under cars and slashes women's ankles, rendering them helpless, and then drags her off.
Today, I saw one about a gang member who got into the back of a woman's car when she was inside the gas station paying for gas, and had plans to kidnap her to be raped by the whole gang.
Scary emails, of course. That's the whole point. But here's what they don't tell you:
I have seen this at least five times, and in none of the emails do they ever provide a link to a newspaper article which would give evidence that the scenarios they describe actually occurred. NEVER. Yes, there is evidence for gang rape being part of gang initiation (at least, I got a fair number of legitimate looking hits when I googled it), but to go about warning women this way is entirely counterproductive.
Here is some more interesting information you get when you actually look stuff up:
In a 1999 longitudinal study of 3,000 women, researchers found women who had been victimized before were seven times more likely to be raped again. The reason why is because once a woman becomes a victim, they lose confidence; predators can tell whether the woman they're going after is afraid. If you read this sort of email, and go around worrying constantly about a man jumping into your backseat or slashing your ankles, the less confidence you are presenting to the world and any predators who
might be (but in most situations, probably aren't) watching.
Honestly, people. If you're trying to make the world a safer place for women, you don't go around
scaring them, you
motivate them. Organize a kickboxing class for them to take, or better yet, tell the people who would attack women that THEY should be afraid to initiate violence, for fear of getting their fucking asses kicked. Don't tell the victims to be more worried.
Yeah, it'll make you scared, and yes, the advice they give might make you more careful. But you shouldn't have to be so goddamn cautious -- you should feel confident and safe and empowered when you step out into the world, and that will prevent you from being attacked even more than the silly advice they give you in this sort of email:
If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most attackers surprise their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.)I'm not saying you shouldn't pay attention to this at all, because this sort of thing might be relevant to a teeny, tiny portion of the population. But instead of being worried and perpetuating the problem, learn how to defend yourself in a way that will make you a stronger, more confident person. Don't fall for this shit, seriously -- it's only making it worse.
ETA: Actually, I'm pretty sure the man in the backseat is an urban legend, or at least a scary movie cliche. I have to head out now, but if you have evidence for this, plz to be letting me know!
( A copy of the email that got me so heated, so you can see it for yourselves. )Seriously, if they want to worry me, show me a series of articles from a respectable newspaper or journal, with first-hand accounts and statements from the police. Even then I refuse to be paranoid about it (I have enough paranoia about my own health), but I won't believe any of this without evidence.
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