“Liberalism, contrary to popular belief, is facing backward in considering the injustice of its ancestors. Conservatism, contrary to popular belief, is facing forward in considering the psychology of its descendants. Definitively, it seems in the modern world that neither side really knows which direction it's facing, and men of the sharpest judgment are simply turned off from picking either of the poisons.”
― Criss Jami
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On "What should a woman do when someone grabs her butt or otherwise touches her inappropriately on a crowded subway?"
A: I started aikido for a couple of years - but decided to forgo grading. What I did pay particular attention to is what you can do once you have someone elses' hand/wrist/fingers in your grasp. As well as the Boken training where you fight with a 5 foot staff - and aim for specific areas - ie the center of the face, the temple and back of the neck where the skull and neck meet...
What I would do now:
Depending on the assault - general touching - grab his hand and put it in a lock. If he ran away or struggled, I'd break his finger/s - it's a lot harder to explain to the cops why his finger is broken. Or his nuts have a knee inflicted embolism. If it's particularly egregious, I'd grab his hands to put him in an immobilising face down lock.
Me: What if you get the wrong person? Or the person really touched you accidentally?
A: That's what all the perverts say.
Me: Guilty until proved innocent?
A: Or victim blaming if you don't know the facts. Creep.
Me: I was speaking about the general case, not your particular case, though I can see how you could have interpreted my comments to mean your particular case.
In any event, females have told me of cases where they have enacted physical retaliation on the wrong men before.
A: Nice save. But your language still makes you a creep: "females have told me" - do they not have a status as people or friends?
Me: What's with all this aggression? Do you feel a need to label strangers "creep"? Are you unwilling to admit that language can have differing interpretations?
It's called inclusive language while being precise.
I am not so presumptuous as to claim that all the females I talk to are my friends. Meanwhile I have a catholic approach to knowledge and do not only talk to my friends.
And if I had said "people", then you might have seized on the lack of a gender to say that a male perspective is invalid here.
A: Creeps get defensive. Perhaps they should stop being creeps....
Me: If creeps get defensive, bitches get aggressive.
NB: This exchange took place before this week, so it doesn't break my resolution for the week