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[–]quickbeam 19 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 0 fun20 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

From age 11 I was aware of what "rape" was and that it was a thing that could specifically target me. Plenty of women are aware of it earlier because they are raped as children. From age 11 on I took on that extra fear, and as I grew up I learned self-defense techniques and to always be hyper-aware of my surroundings. When I was dating my husband he suggested I bike home at 2 a.m. one night because he needed to get good sleep. I did bike home because it was early days, but the next day I had it out with him and explained to him that you're not safe at 2 a.m. as a woman just because you're on a bike and can "go fast." Today he's a great feminist man, but even someone who's become a great feminist man was clueless as to what it's like to be a woman and what risks we face before I educated him.