I have a male cousin whose views I often disagree with. He’s very old school (bordering on racist and sexist). We spend days, sometimes weeks and months debating about something but I do so because half the time he eventually starts to agree with my POV and change his way of thinking, which is why I persevere!
The current discussion is around Sarah Everard and how women should feel safe when we walk home, and that telling us to be careful is putting the onus on us rather than teaching men to not rape, grope, etc.
His response is that this is no different to men having to also be careful in case they’re mugged or come across a drunken lout who wants a fight when they’re out late. He says in an ideal world we all shouldn’t be worried but because bad people exist, we just have to be careful. He even made the point that when he used to live in a dodgy part of London, he would carry his keys in his hand just in case he needed to protect himself, just like women are accustomed to doing.
I don’t quite know how to respond to that, which is not often the case…! Can anyone help me for when we next talk about it?