I had this discussion in college, once. I was taking a American Government class in community college to take care of some general ed requirements for the university I wanted to transfer to. The entire class except for me and maybe one other person was high school kids, 16-18 year olds.
In one of the class discussions it came up that females feel a fear walking down the street that men do not. Me, being retired military and a concealed carry permit holder, plus pretty large physically (6'5" 300+ lbs), I sympathized, but then I started listing things they could do to not feel afraid. Dress was one of the subjects that came up, and I told them if you dress a certain way, you are advertising to people who don't care about women's lib, and will not even blink about assaulting you. "What she was wearing" is, actually, a thing, but most women are too naive and too far into denial to even consider it.
I left them with this, "You all know how big I am, you do realize I could force myself onto any one of you, at any time and place of my choosing, right? Unless, you have a gun, know how to use it, and most importantly, have decided your life is worth saving, and therefore worth protecting." Many women haven't decided that, because females are the most protected class of humans on the face of the planet while living in the US, and don't have to think about it much, until reality punches them in the mouth.
It's not just women. Most liberals haven't been 'punched by reality in the mouth,' that's why they're liberal. A healthy fear of the world and appreciation of the need for self-defense is one of the two mindsets that the left lacks. (The other is a sense of the sacred. 'Godless liberal' isn't just a meme.)
I had this discussion in college, once. I was taking a American Government class in community college to take care of some general ed requirements for the university I wanted to transfer to. The entire class except for me and maybe one other person was high school kids, 16-18 year olds.
In one of the class discussions it came up that females feel a fear walking down the street that men do not. Me, being retired military and a concealed carry permit holder, plus pretty large physically (6'5" 300+ lbs), I sympathized, but then I started listing things they could do to not feel afraid. Dress was one of the subjects that came up, and I told them if you dress a certain way, you are advertising to people who don't care about women's lib, and will not even blink about assaulting you. "What she was wearing" is, actually, a thing, but most women are too naive and too far into denial to even consider it.
I left them with this, "You all know how big I am, you do realize I could force myself onto any one of you, at any time and place of my choosing, right? Unless, you have a gun, know how to use it, and most importantly, have decided your life is worth saving, and therefore worth protecting." Many women haven't decided that, because females are the most protected class of humans on the face of the planet while living in the US, and don't have to think about it much, until reality punches them in the mouth.
It's not just women. Most liberals haven't been 'punched by reality in the mouth,' that's why they're liberal. A healthy fear of the world and appreciation of the need for self-defense is one of the two mindsets that the left lacks. (The other is a sense of the sacred. 'Godless liberal' isn't just a meme.)