Comment Mitch Haile's comment on the danger of rape (Score 1) 331
I am curious about the gender of those that have taken part in the discussion of rape "on" the Internet. Rape is still primarily done by men against women (though there are significant exceptions to this)and I wonder if those who wrote that they did not find the environment inherently dangerous were men.
Perhaps I am more careful than most, but when I left home for college nearly 6 years ago, I made it a habit of mine not to walk around the campus at night by myself, nor would I go out with any man that I didn't know well enough to trust. There were no exceptions. I was a young female in Seattle and acknowledged the fact that just because of those two characteristics, I was a potential target. It isn't a conincidence that I had known the man who became my husband for more than 4 months before I went out alone with him and we'd been friends a full year before we ever went on a date.
Is my experience unusual? Are there others who don't believe this kind of caution is warranted? Is the security of Internet contact with strangers simply an illusion, and should we treat the people we meet online as we would any stranger walking down the street?
Perhaps I am more careful than most, but when I left home for college nearly 6 years ago, I made it a habit of mine not to walk around the campus at night by myself, nor would I go out with any man that I didn't know well enough to trust. There were no exceptions. I was a young female in Seattle and acknowledged the fact that just because of those two characteristics, I was a potential target. It isn't a conincidence that I had known the man who became my husband for more than 4 months before I went out alone with him and we'd been friends a full year before we ever went on a date.
Is my experience unusual? Are there others who don't believe this kind of caution is warranted? Is the security of Internet contact with strangers simply an illusion, and should we treat the people we meet online as we would any stranger walking down the street?
