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17/2/06 20:31Walking women to their destination after dark.
I have been walking home by myself after dark for years. When I lived walking distance from a bookstore that stayed open till 11, I'd walk through downtown Montreal at 9 or 10, alone. When I hung out in the air-conditioned student office until the doors closed at 10 in Nagasaki, I walked home alone. Now I'll walk home by myself at night once in a while--normally I'd rather bike if I'm going as far as downtown, and I don't bike in the dark, but it's not a fear of getting attacked (except by people driving cars who don't see me). I find the idea that women shouldn't walk home alone in the dark very odd and a little foreign, probably because I'm too sheltered and still don't really believe that bad things will happen to me.
But occasionally cyclists trying to defend the safety of their hobby by pointing out that more people get hurt by furniture than by bicycles, and I think it's worth noting that, in my life, I have been injured by such things as:
-whacking my head on open cabinet doors
-scraping my hand on bike gears as I was changing a tire
-falling off a bike
-stepping in a hole and wrenching my ankle
-ironing pleats
-cooking dinner
-stepping on pins
-tripping over the dormitory genkan because I was watching guys change their shirts
Walking home alone at night? Never.
Life is dangerous. Life is dangerous if you're as clumsy as I am. Some things are more dangerous than others; but telling women not to go out at night is less about protecting them and more about control. (Unless, maybe, you live somewhere really sketchy).
I have been walking home by myself after dark for years. When I lived walking distance from a bookstore that stayed open till 11, I'd walk through downtown Montreal at 9 or 10, alone. When I hung out in the air-conditioned student office until the doors closed at 10 in Nagasaki, I walked home alone. Now I'll walk home by myself at night once in a while--normally I'd rather bike if I'm going as far as downtown, and I don't bike in the dark, but it's not a fear of getting attacked (except by people driving cars who don't see me). I find the idea that women shouldn't walk home alone in the dark very odd and a little foreign, probably because I'm too sheltered and still don't really believe that bad things will happen to me.
But occasionally cyclists trying to defend the safety of their hobby by pointing out that more people get hurt by furniture than by bicycles, and I think it's worth noting that, in my life, I have been injured by such things as:
-whacking my head on open cabinet doors
-scraping my hand on bike gears as I was changing a tire
-falling off a bike
-stepping in a hole and wrenching my ankle
-ironing pleats
-cooking dinner
-stepping on pins
-tripping over the dormitory genkan because I was watching guys change their shirts
Walking home alone at night? Never.
Life is dangerous. Life is dangerous if you're as clumsy as I am. Some things are more dangerous than others; but telling women not to go out at night is less about protecting them and more about control. (Unless, maybe, you live somewhere really sketchy).