Not Okay stuff

[cyranothe2nd]

Am I the only one who thinks that The Gift of Fear is just another way of victim-blaming, ie "You didn't listen to your intuition/fear about that skeevy dude!" I see this book recommended all the damn time and when I read it, granted a few years ago, I remember throwing it across the room in disgust because it felt to me like another re-hash of the

Comments

[wldrose]

Parden me I found you via friends of friends. I totally agree with you. I think much of what the book says is valid and can be taught but not in the way it came out.

I read it after my Aunt wanted my mum to read it she passed it on to me and I read it first and called my aunt and explained why this book would be very disturbing for her to read.

But its one of my mental tests and balances of new people I meet if they think its a great book I think differently of them.

[samus_aran]

Is it possible they had a potentially useful idea and did a poor job of putting it across? I mean, there can be a fine line between "here's something you can do to help yourself avoid Bad Things in a society which is not your friend" and "if you don't do this, you're responsible for what happens to you", and yet, the difference is huge.

[lady_drace]

Nothing wrong with self defense, but this seems... bad. I haven't read the book, but I don't like the idea that women (or anyone) should have to take responsibility for getting attacked.

I mean, if someone using this book's advice got attacked, would they somehow have less fault in it than someone who was never afraid of anything and still got attacked? The fault can only ever be the attacker's.

[buukkin]

Yeah. The world is a disgusting place. Girls are taught how not to get raped and boys are taught nothing on howbnot to rape, but instead a series of justifications for it.

[buukkin]

Oh and by the way, i am the WORST at driving while i sleep. Or the other way around even. Like, the worst. If I'm in a car for five minutes, i conk out. And i found myself between school and work driving over 200 miles a day. So i should be dead. BUT INSTEAD I listes to your batman podfics.

[cyranothe2nd]

Oh yay, I always wonder if ppl are listening... I'm recording a megahuge story right now. :D