Can men really grasp women’s reality re safety?

[Ritascornershop]

I have a 19 year old son who is very compassionate and left-wing (I mention that as he’s been indoctrinated in TWAW) but who can’t grasp the discomfort many women feel at men in women’s private spaces.

And recently a friend was telling me that a family member of his (who he has quite the blind spot over) broke up with his girlfriend. The gf had, before she met his family member, been sexually assaulted. She was naturally quite traumatized by the rape but trying to heal and met this guy and got in a relationship with him. The way my friend tells it. his family member broke up with her after a few months (during an argument) & family member “got so uoset” he punched a hole in the wall and broke a chair. She called the police and called friends. My friend seemed to feel she over-reacted! I think any woman would be frightened and that a woman who’d been sexually assaulted would be particularly terrified.

It does not seem a tricky concept to me, but both these men seem to not be able to wrap their heads around how frightening it can be to be vulnerable around larger, stronger, angry males. Is this something most men don’t get or are these two not trying very hard?

Bit of an odd one, bd67th. I reckon a high % of women and men would say that's what the AA is for.
In which case a high % of women and men "don't get it".
I might even argue that changing the wheel yourself might be more dangerous than waiting for assistance.

men act differently in a single sex group. Anyone who's ever heard of a stag do will know that.

A stag party on the up escalator shouted "I want to fuck you in the arse" at every woman on the down escalator bar the one who was with her husband, on my commute home one evening.

Excellent post bd.

I might even argue that changing the wheel yourself might be more dangerous than waiting for assistance.

That depends on where I am. Flat tyre next to a motorway, driver's side, I might make a different decision than rural B road, passenger's side.

But also, women are raped next to motorways whilst they await for assistance. You're meant to stay in your car with the doors locked to prevent rape, but you're also meant to sit on the motorway verge away from the traffic in case another vehicle hits your car whilst it's on the hard shoulder. Which do you do? You can't do both.

Having the tools in the car and the skills to use them gives me more choices about how I deal with a breakdown. The tools also give me something to defend myself with, should I choose to wait alone on that motorway verge for the AA.

Having the tools in the car and the skills to use them gives me more choices

And they allow me to help others. I've given a few jump starts to people who left their lights on and ran their batteries flat. When the driver is a woman, doing so has helped to keep her safe.

Many men don't.....until they suddenly do when they have a daughter.