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From: davidl@tekig.UUCP (David Levadie)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Anger and survival
Message-ID: <1809@tekig.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Feb-84 15:55:17 EST
Article-I.D.: tekig.1809
Posted: Fri Feb 17 15:55:17 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 19-Feb-84 08:10:54 EST
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 23

I once knew a woman who was attacked by a vicious dog on her way to the
bus.  I gave her a long knife with which to defend herself.  The
dog attacked again.  When I next saw her, she remonstrated me with,
"That dog isn't scared of that knife at all - I took it out and she
just jumped at me anyway."  And, she was still terrified.  Now,
with a knife like that in my hand I could, and would, try to kill any
dog that attacked me.  But, it never even occurred to her to attack
the dog - she thought the dog was supposed to be "scared" of the
knife!  The reaction of anger and response with deadly force, which
I take for granted, and view as indispensable for self-preservation,
was clearly lacking.  I reacted with a mixture of contempt and pity.
Any woman - PERSON - like this is a sitting duck.  You can arm someone
to the teeth, but if they don't have the will to use the weapon, they
are worse off than being unarmed, in the case of a human assailant.

Come to think of it, in dealing with people, I have noticed that women
in general present a demeanor of physical vulnerability.  In fact,
among the women I've met (INCLUDING the martial arts afficionados)
I can only recall one woman who struck me as being physically menacing;
and it was not because of her size - it was her clear willingness and
capability for deadly force.  I really liked her; she had an incredible
energy about her (she's married now, with several children). And she
had no martial arts training...