The truth is you’re not, and that’s a shame. You may remember if you were a young girl, either being taught to you by your parents or a fellow kid, self-defense. I’m sorry if I seem immature when I say an eleven-year-old child shouldn’t have to know three different ways to slip out of a man’s grip or that screaming “Fire!” will get you more looks than “Help me! I don’t know him!”
Self-defense for women is a fairly well-known concept that has many people being taught it, but the simple addition of the specific word “Women’s” and the fact that it has to be specified in itself is sad. Sure, you may say that perhaps it’s a specification of body type, that women tend to be lighter, more flexible, or be more dexterous, but I’ve never seen the specification of “Men’s” self-defense on a pamphlet detailing various statistics that make you bite your lip and glance at the person next to you wondering if they’ve gotten perhaps a little too close.
If I had a dollar for every time, we both heard either on the news or by conversation. Some lady being raped, sexually assaulted, cat called, groped, mutilated, or killed by the people she knew or by the people on the street. I’d be competing with billionaires for the amount of money I’d earn in a year.
I find it unfortunate that it’s become such a necessity. One that I myself need to take if I want a higher percentage of making sure that I get home safely. The repetition of the drills to lessen the prospect of being caught off guard, the muscle memory to quell the lump in your throat from a man walking toward you, the knowledge of different ways to potently disable him if he decides that I’m a pretty target….. Granted, this is all based on the fact that I haven’t been knocked out by the initial contact…. or that he’s not holding a gun.