From: mara@Panix.Com (Mara Chibnik)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: Women's and men's safety
Date: 8 Jan 1993 19:56:29 GMT
Organization: (getting there)
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu
Originator: muffy@remarque.berkeley.edu

andyw@meaddata.COM (Andy Welter) seems to think that I got at least
part of his point, which is something.
 >Ok, so according to your posting, you don't mind the odd risk in
 >various sports, but may hesitate to wander around NYC at night alone.

I didn't say that.  I said 
  >>I live with a man who is much more timid than I am about all sorts
  >>of recreational dangers, and who is much less timid than I about
  >>being alone on the streets of NYC after dark.

 >Some wariness about NYC after dark is just good sense for man or
 >woman...  as a woman it makes good sense to be even more wary.  Since
 >you seem to be more risk tolerant than average in regard to sports,
 >Question is, do you seem to be less wary about being out after dark
 >than other women you know?

First of all, I'm interested in _your_ perception of why it makes
good sense for a woman to be "even more wary."  This proposition has
been challenged by numerous posters here.

Second, I think that everyone who walks around NYC at night-- or
even in daylight!-- is alert and aware and a little cautious.  (The
only people who aren't cautious are out-of-towners.) 

As to how my street-courage compares to other women I know, I'm
somewhere in the middle, even if I limit my consideration to those
women I know who are within ten years of my age and who live in
Manhattan.  The nature of my life means that I'm seldom out alone in
the evening.  What is familiar is apt to seem less risky than what
is unfamiliar.  (It probably _is_ less risky, in that when you
become familiar with any situation you know what's normal within
that situation and can react quickly to any "abnormality."  You just
have to watch out for the "familiarity breeds contempt" syndrome.)

 >If you are less wary than other women you know, why do you think that
 >is?  Do you think that this difference is due to you being more
 >comfortable with risky situations?  Or is it that maybe you know you
 >would be able defend yourself in many situations?

I think that while I was regularly out alone at night I was "braver"
about it than I am now.  I think that this is important, because
those women who have been schooled into timidity don't have the
_habit_ of dealing with the danger.  And this is another part of it:
I know a number of women who seem to hate solitary walks at night
more than I do, but who do it more often than I do because their
lives require it.

 >If you aren't any less wary than other women you know, why doesn't
 >your tolerance of sporting risks carry over to your attitude about
 >safety on the streets?

It seems to me-- but then, I guess it would-- that my "tolerance of
sporting risks" is just in balance with my attitude about being on
the street.  ;-)  [This is a semi-serious point.  My husband is no
more timid about being out in NYC than most of the men we know, but
he is rather less interested in sporting risks, or in high-speed
driving, and so on, than many men of our acquaintance.]

However, when it comes to risk-taking in sports, I have two things
in my favor-- at least.  First, I can exercise a lot of control over
just how risky a situation gets.  I can choose, say, to ski or not
to ski, to jump or not to jump, and where to ski or to jump or
whatever-- based on how strong and coordinated I feel that day, on
the weather, and so on.  When I go out into the city at night I get
to make fewer choices that affect the degree of risk.

The other thing is that even though you'd expect the social stigma
attaching to injury from sporting accidents to be no less than that
>from being out alone at night, I've found that this isn't true.
Even those people who'll say "Well, if you're _going_ to go bungee
jumping..." or whatever don't say it in quite the same "dirty" tone
of voice they use for a woman who was hurt-- especially if sexual
assault was involved-- because she was in a dangerous neighborhood
late at night.  

-- 

  Mara Chibnik
  mara@panix.com                Life is too important to be taken seriously.



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