Quote:
Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19
I find this language as offensive
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You may find it offensive, but the problem is that for most women it's reality.
Enough of a portion of women have had to deal with men abusing them in some way (physically, psychologically, socially, etc) that it's something that impacts all women. I don't know a single women that doesn't have an experience where a man felt and acted entitled to her body.
Why is giving out fake phone #'s a thing? Because just saying no results in abusive situations often enough that fake phone #'s is a better option. Why do we have escort services to get women to their cars at night? Because assaults happen often enough that women are justified in feeling fear going to their cars at night. Why do mothers have to teach their daughters about saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing or wearing the wrong thing? Because enough daughters have been in abusive situations that they need to be taught when they start getting boobs how to protect themselves from situations that shouldn't exist to begin with.
I like the poison M&Ms example, even if there's 1 poison one in a bowl of 1000 M&Ms, do you just grab a handful and start eating?
If violence against women was a rare thing then I might agree that the statement is offensive, or at least I'd entertain the idea. But violence against women (EDIT: And the attitude that women are objects still) is endemic in our society. The # of women who have been raped or attempted rape isn't in the 1 in 1000 or 1 in 10,000 level. It's in the 1 in 3 level (or 1 in 4 or whatever, I don't know the actual stats, but it's a single digit fraction).
If you lived in a society where 1 in 3 people had experienced murder or attempted murder, how safe would you feel just walking down the street? The most dangerous countries in the world, ones where no one here would ever travel to for vacation and wander around at night, are only in the 1 in 100 level over a lifetime.
There's no easy answers and as a man I too feel hurt or offended when I'm placed in the same group as the men that feel they are in a position above women. But the reality is, I
am a member of that group, and I feel enough empathy with women that I can't act on my hurt feeling, some feelings aren't reasonable. If I feel offended, I should make sure I raise my son to respect people equally. I should make sure I don't perpetuate misogyny by inaction.