0 *0 0 - 0 0 0 __ 0 - .. . -.. *. .-..S 4.3 Went Young, female and scared ut I was covered from head to toe in a long winter coat. had my backpack on. Walking home from the library one night last winter, I wasn't drunk, wasn't showing skin - what did those men want with me? It doesn't matter what a woman wears or doesn't wear - she's never inviting sexual harassment or assault. But for the two creeps I met on Hill Street it didn't matter what I wore because my gender alone was reason enough to target me. As I tried to pass the pair on the sidewalk, the shorter of the two indoors and are attempted by some- one the victim knows - suggesting I'm safer on most streets at night than I am at a friend of a friend's house. Another hazy point is the role of the cell phone. Many girls I know will only walk alone at night if they're on the phone. Leaving the UGLi or a South University Street bar, they call a friend to "walk them home." It's comforting, talking to someone who knows roughly where you are and can call the police. But you might be worse off-sur- veys of convicted rapists found that the main bar district when one of my friends suddenly started flip- ping out. It seems my friend, a for- mer college volleyball player and Hooter's calendar girl, had caught the attention of a dude on the street, who upon seeing her thought to himself, "Hey, I should really grab this girl's crotch." So he did. And then my friend yelled. And then I threatened to burn the guy's face with my ciga- rette. Our friends stepped in to pull us away from each other when my lit butt was within inches of his eye. Both groups were panicked. I got called some awful things. But he looked scared and I was satisfied. It turns out fear works both ways. A minute's worth of retrospect told me I probably overacted, and that burning someone's face is probably illegal. But even though my friends might have thought oth- erwise, I didn't regret what hap- pened. No one is going to sit that guy down and teach him to respect women, but maybe he'll be too con- cerned about keeping his eyebrows to try a stunt like that again. Ultimately, though, I know there has to be a better medium between complacency and violence in deal- ing with creeps. Getting in some- one's face on a crowded street is one thing. But what if I had taken that tactic with the men who had me alone on Hill Street? Would they have made sure I had a reason to be scared? Another question: Is it too late to become a black belt in martial arts? It might be easier than parsing out the girls' guide to self-defense. -Jessica Vosgerchian is magazine editor for The Michigan Daily grabbed my arm. people on cell "Are you scared?" phones seem the he snarled. A few The girls' guide to easiest victims. moments later - Those people when he had been self-defense are distracted, satisfied that, yes, I and the friends was scared - he let contradicts itself they're talking to go of me. might just think Then I walked the connection the half a block to my apartment and burst into tears. I was angry. What that man wanted was to reaffirm a deluded sense of power by reminding some- one that it wasn't up to her if she kept walking or stayed put. And I let him. "Can I help you?" my frightened doe's eyes seemed to say, my body turning complacently toward my captor. "Is there a problem, Sir?" My impulse to appease rather than fight left me limp in the clutch- es of a misogynist. For a long time- after, I fantasized that I had emp- tied a can of pepper spray into both their eyes and called the police. Temporary blindness, a night in jail and a scarlet letter on their per- manent records: A for Asshole. But that's when the complacency instinct kicks in. Is fighting back really worth incurring the wrath of two full-grown men upon my 125 pounds and a few books? Is it bet- ter to avoid making trouble in hopes the situation won't escalate? Age old questions - ones for which everyone seems to have advice but no one can answer defin- itively. If I know anything about self-defense strategies it's that they contradict. Many people would say I shouldn't have been walking alone at all. But the freedom to walk a few blocks home after a night of study- ing is important to me. And any- way, most sexual assaults happen died. if the line suddenly went silent. My own cell phone security blan- ket late at night is to dial 9 and 1, my thumb hovering over that next 1 in case someone jumps out from behind the North Quad construc- tion. But then, if I really had a rea- son to be scared wouldn't those several seconds it takes to dig my cell phone out of my bag be better. spent running? The biggest misconception, though,isthatsexualpredators only hunt at night. As I imagine most 20- year-old women have come to real- ize, creepers are creeping morning, noon and night. I've been followed through crowded festivals and home from the mall, alone and with a group, and all in broad daylight. Look through the Department of Public Safety crime alerts - alot of sexual assaults reported on campus occurred before sunset. Although, if you pay attention to those crime alerts, you'llsee that the women get away. They do exact- ly what you're supposed to do: bite, scream, claw and kick. It makes me think that there might only be one universal truth about self-defense: Nobody likes an easy victim. Not the men who try to pull women into cars. Not the guys who grope their way through clubs. I put this theory to the test with an entitled jerk I encountered in Buffalo, NY this summer. Two girl- friends and I were walking through Then you are 50 Metavante! 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