How's your shit detector working?

Inasmuch as I'm not up for hanging out in cyberspace, I was inspired by Bird's blog: "This above all else: REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM..." to bump up the issue & focus on the empowering side of the coin. As it's a drag, to say the least, that women & especially young girls are encouraged to be nice & compliant in the face of exploitation. It's like sending soldiers out to battle with feathers for ammunition.

I saw an astonishing documentary quite awhile ago about women who worked for the American National Red Cross during the Vietnam War alongside the soldiers without having been provided with any combat skills. And although the documentary had a profound impact on me, I still deluded myself into believing that all I had to do was be in the right place at the right time, although I was aware, on an intellectual level that there's no safe place.

Humanoids are predatory animals by nature & good intentions are not as prevailant as we'd like to imagine, as was depicted in those criminal profiles on Bird's blog. And worse yet, there is a great deal of documented evidence that doctors & other professionals are known to misuse their status to assualt women. The good news is that there are more women doctors in Victoria & even a drop in clinic run by women physicans specifically for woman's health concerns.

It would also be helpful to start up a peer group to exchange survival skills info. And there's lots of interesting literature out there to help us better acquaint ourselves with how to put our survival skills into action so we can better protect outselves. However, in lieu of ideal circumstances, we've still got our intuition to protect us, if we're willing to honour it.

It's also wise to think for oneself. If you don't think for yourself, there's no shortage of people out there who will be glad to do your thinking for you.