Marion Fitzgerald says women shouldn't get “hysterical” about the risk of being murdered by a man

[UhtredRagnarson]

link

Because men are far more likely to be murdered than women. This is in response to the murder of a woman, by a man.



Don’t you ya just love to be called hysterical when in fear for your life?

[animaux19]

@AdHominemNonSequitur yes random attacks are very rare but it's the extreme end of a wider issue and that is of women feeling unsafe and threatened by intimidating or aggressive male behaviour. Pretty much all women have experienced sexual harassment, been made to feel intimidated of scared when walking alone or changed their route home to walk on well lit streets. Ask any woman and she will tell you some stories and the harassment often starts at a very young age. So women aren't being hysterical because they are worried they are going to be abducted at random they are angry because of the general level of fear they feel going about their lives in public or in their own homes.

[toffeebutterpopcorn]

Can you imagine if she said this about other groups in society? Hysterical because one woman is murdered every 3 days? Give me strength.

[UhtredRagnarson]

You know what I hate so much about the use of hysterical in this context is that so many women will have actually been “hysterical” when they were attacked. Thinking or knowing you are about to die will do that to a person. Any person. I think “hysterical” is an appropriate response to that situation.

[borntobequiet]

I heard this on my way to work and it really annoyed me. So blinkered by statistics that she can’t see behaviours as important. She could have considered that perhaps it’s because women are apprehensive and careful that they don’t come to more harm.
I can’t stand people who wilfully use statistics to ignore or minimise aspects of the real world that don’t align with their views, or who can’t see beyond the numbers and deprecate those who can.

[toffeebutterpopcorn]

You are right. ‘Hysterical’ implies that you are being a big baby over nothing. What is the correct response to being scared witless?

[oil0W0lio]

'dont be hysterical'
this is a phrase used to deride and embarrass someone in order to put them back in their place

[Ijustknowitstimetogo]

I guess a lot of murdered men are killed in fights, stabbing a due to gang violence...etc.

Which is no consolation if you’re a mum worried sick every time your son leaves the house.

[PursuingProxemicExactitude]

Well, it's good to see a pretty united response to her ridiculous comments this morning. That 'hysterical' seemed quite calculatedly spiteful and deliberate.

Ms Fitzgerald certainly didn't make me feel any safer.

[Erkrie]

You know what I hate so much about the use of hysterical in this context is that so many women will have actually been “hysterical” when they were attacked.

Yes absolutely this.

[StillWeRise]

@Janeteapot

She should also consider that while men are more likely to be murdered, women are massively more likely to be sexually assaulted, harassed, victims of indecent exposure etc in public places. These things are themselves a cause of fear and also amplify the fear around more serious crime. It is also minimising these crimes (which IMO happens massively in the police) that leads to more serious crimes being committed.

This is what I was saying to DP when it was broadcast.
Like a PP I thought she was trying to be dispassionate (although hysterical was a very poor choice of words) and I also think that i some way it's like stranger danger- the more we focus on the stranger danger the less likely we are to think about the much more serious danger in our own homes.
But I would like to see a comparison not of murders on the street of women vs men, but murder/assualt/harassment/rape on the street of women vs men, because I think then our fear would seem entirely rational.
However I do think we should also be warning our sons to be careful in the same way as our daughters. When I think of my kids' generation as teens, the only one I recall being attacked on the street, unprovoked, was a boy.

[Erkrie]

However I do think we should also be warning our sons to be careful in the same way as our daughters.

I do agree with this too. Men are also at risk of violence from men.

[RiojaRose]

A man has a much better chance of fighting off another man than a woman has of fighting off a man. The motivations and the consequences are entirely different as well. There’s really no comparison between men’s attacks on men and men’s attacks on women.

[PursuingProxemicExactitude]

However I do think we should also be warning our sons to be careful in the same way as our daughters.

Oh, I love your innocence. Amazing to think that the majority population in England doesn't spend half of any boy's life warning him about the incalculable danger of stepping outside his front door.

[MenopausalCrone]

Was listening to this with disbelieve and penned an email to the Beeb!

Did you hear her say that when she was attacked, twice, with a 20 year gap in between, she managed to get away because she stayed calm and didn't become hysterical.

What the fuck was she inferring there!!

[Erkrie]

Did you hear her say that when she was attacked, twice, with a 20 year gap in between, she managed to get away because she stayed calm and didn't become hysterical.

Wow. So if we all be calm and don't get hysterical then we'll get to walk away too right. Talk about minimising other women's experiences.

[toffeebutterpopcorn]

‘So if you get yourself murdered or raped it’s all your own fault for not being brilliant like me’. That’s kind of what she implied then’?

[UhtredRagnarson]

@MenopausalCrone

Was listening to this with disbelieve and penned an email to the Beeb!

Did you hear her say that when she was attacked, twice, with a 20 year gap in between, she managed to get away because she stayed calm and didn't become hysterical.

What the fuck was she inferring there!!

Oh wow!! The implication of that statement!

[oil0W0lio]

sneering and condescending to the rest of us 'hysterical' women who presumably deserve exactly what we get because we can't keep calm when attacked and assaulted 😟😳

[OldRailer]

I think blinkered by statistics is an apt way of looking at her statements and
the underlying sentiments. Because though she may not like the word (I'm guessing here!) That's what they are.