NOT ALL MEN, BUT STILL TOO MANY MEN

[bloom]

110. Sane men, rape and places to avoid

I am sure that the man who raped thought that he was just doing what men do. He added me to his list of conquests. I quite clearly had told him no. In retrospect, he quite clearly set up the situation. I don't think that he would be considered insane. I expect he generally knows right from wrong - except for when it comes to raping women. I expect what he learned from people around him and from the culture - he figured what he did was not wrong - but was how a person got points in the game of life. He managed to get himself the role as teacher - teaching from his house. I heard from a friend of mine - who did have consensual sex with him - about the 100s of women he had 'had'.

I was camping once, with my kids and had someone start to get in my tent in the middle of the night. I heard the zipper start to unzip, I made a noise, he left (I am going to assume it was a he). I would not want to camp alone or with children after that.

I often think, do I want to go there alone? Will it be safe? It may be the woods, some place with a bunch of young college men, bars, concerts, etc. I would be concerned working at a place with all men and no women - because of the culture that develops (the entitlement attitude). I feel better hiking when I have my dog with me. I have done a bit of traveling alone - in Europe and here and there. But I consider time of day, the remoteness of a location and such, when I go out.

I had a painting teacher who when talking about painting outside, advised her students never to sit in such a way that they could not see someone approach - because of possible assaults by men.

As I get older, I think I am getting more invisible. I actually see that as a good thing, when it comes to men. But I don't think I will ever feel 'safe' from men - even I was 100 years old.