Antarctic scientists plead for help after ‘sexual assault and threats’ by colleague
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Women and some other minorities are raised to not even consider using acts of violence to protect ourselves, like it never crosses our minds as a possibility that we could physically hurt an assailant if we wanted to. We have internalized a sense of weakness that isn’t actually true. This has been detrimental to our safety as well as the safety of other women. Fuck the patriarchy for doing this to us.
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Have you watched the handmaids tale series? Spoiler alert, but
the main character starts out seemingly powerless, being repeatedly assaulted etc. By the 3rd series she's murdered one of the state sponsored rapists by stabbing him with a pen I think, then the other women hide the evidence and secretly cremate the guy in a furnace.
The lesson I took is that people are always more powerful than they think and solidarity is very important.
Also that the attitude #TraumatiseThemBack is valid when dealing with evil.
I have! That show absolutely terrifies me, since yeah, a small minority of people convinces a ton of other people to do violence against women in a way that feels very USA 2025. But that’s a great point! When the main character realizes her power, she goes far in protecting herself and others.
It’s difficult because our culture trains us from birth to never realize we can fight back. Like, I have a strong suspicion that if I was suddenly attacked, my brain would dump all ideas of fighting back and just freeze, which of course allows the violence to happen. I don’t think this is a “natural state” of being for women or any person. I think we were just trained this way, which makes it a very difficult mindset to overcome; I believe that this is by design.
So…how do we retrain women and girls to respond with a #traumatizethemback mindset? Seems impossible to do this at the cultural level, at least for several generations.
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I am sad for the way you were raised, in my entire extended family there is not one woman who would have put up with it or had any thought other than self-defense at whatever cost.
I’d love to spread your family’s mindset through the larger white American culture (the one in which I was raised)!
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Yeah, that’s a good point.
Because for a long time we weren't believed. It's why #metoo was so important.
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Because for a long time we weren't believed. It's why #metoo was so important.
Agreed. The fact that we have to depend on structurally patriarchal/domineering justice system is the problem… It’s a whole mess.
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Antarctic builds are costly, difficult, and filled with challenges you don't see in daily life, so while that might seem like a simple idea, it's about half as hard as as putting it on the space station, with a 10th or less the budget.
I'm not saying anything has to be built or installed, just rigged/signposted in physical reality and negotiated as social reality
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I would think frontier justice would apply nicely in this situation. Just boot the asshole out in the cold and nature will solve the problem for you.
That is close to my thought, "Hey asshole, you gotta sleep sometime..."
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I am sad for the way you were raised, in my entire extended family there is not one woman who would have put up with it or had any thought other than self-defense at whatever cost.
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I have! That show absolutely terrifies me, since yeah, a small minority of people convinces a ton of other people to do violence against women in a way that feels very USA 2025. But that’s a great point! When the main character realizes her power, she goes far in protecting herself and others.
It’s difficult because our culture trains us from birth to never realize we can fight back. Like, I have a strong suspicion that if I was suddenly attacked, my brain would dump all ideas of fighting back and just freeze, which of course allows the violence to happen. I don’t think this is a “natural state” of being for women or any person. I think we were just trained this way, which makes it a very difficult mindset to overcome; I believe that this is by design.
So…how do we retrain women and girls to respond with a #traumatizethemback mindset? Seems impossible to do this at the cultural level, at least for several generations.
I have a strong suspicion that if I was suddenly attacked, my brain would dump all ideas of fighting back and just freeze, which of course allows the violence to happen.
Find, and take, local self defence classes. Not necessarily martial arts classes (though they may be involved), but real world self defence. It'll be grittier, nastier and much better practice. Get used to grappling and fighting in a controlled environment, and you'll be much less likely to freeze if you need it in an emergency.
You're right that'll it'll take a long time to change at a cultural level, but that needs to start somewhere, and obe person doing it and then encouraging others could be a local catalyst.
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They're cut off, noone's getting in or out until the weather improves, which will be months. The team are on their own with the attacker until then and will probably appreciate counselling when they're out.
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I have a strong suspicion that if I was suddenly attacked, my brain would dump all ideas of fighting back and just freeze, which of course allows the violence to happen.
Find, and take, local self defence classes. Not necessarily martial arts classes (though they may be involved), but real world self defence. It'll be grittier, nastier and much better practice. Get used to grappling and fighting in a controlled environment, and you'll be much less likely to freeze if you need it in an emergency.
You're right that'll it'll take a long time to change at a cultural level, but that needs to start somewhere, and obe person doing it and then encouraging others could be a local catalyst.
Thank you for the encouragement. I do need to do this. Especially with the current climate in the USA.
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I’d love to spread your family’s mindset through the larger white American culture (the one in which I was raised)!
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That is close to my thought, "Hey asshole, you gotta sleep sometime..."
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Exactly what I was thinking.
When you're cut off from any help, you ARE your own help. Don't wait for something unthinkable to happen, this person has made it clear they don't respect you or boundaries, and have made threats.
It's 9v1, if you're scared just wait until they're asleep. Kick them out the door, lock it, and they can try walking their happy ass back to civilization. from Antarctica
Don't bother looking for a body.
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They're cut off, noone's getting in or out until the weather improves, which will be months. The team are on their own with the attacker until then and will probably appreciate counselling when they're out.
Surprising that they're still cut-off since it's the Antarctic summer right now.
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Women and some other minorities are raised to not even consider using acts of violence to protect ourselves, like it never crosses our minds as a possibility that we could physically hurt an assailant if we wanted to. We have internalized a sense of weakness that isn’t actually true. This has been detrimental to our safety as well as the safety of other women. Fuck the patriarchy for doing this to us.
Oh. You assume a female victim.
You may be surprised to learn there's room in the trending for other combinations; and I will try to believe that assertion, as I want to expect the best from you.
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Women and some other minorities are raised to not even consider using acts of violence to protect ourselves, like it never crosses our minds as a possibility that we could physically hurt an assailant if we wanted to. We have internalized a sense of weakness that isn’t actually true. This has been detrimental to our safety as well as the safety of other women. Fuck the patriarchy for doing this to us.
Absolutely 100%. I think basic self-defense should be a required course in middle school or high school, especially for women. And I would encourage any woman or any person for that matter to take charge of their personal defense, in whatever way is most comfortable for them. Carry a gun, carry a taser, carry pepper spray, take martial arts classes like Krav, etc.
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Absolutely 100%. I think basic self-defense should be a required course in middle school or high school, especially for women. And I would encourage any woman or any person for that matter to take charge of their personal defense, in whatever way is most comfortable for them. Carry a gun, carry a taser, carry pepper spray, take martial arts classes like Krav, etc.
Schools should be teaching boys to respect women and not believe they have a 'right' to women's bodies.
If we hit the source of the problem it can be fixed ... and the source is not women, it's boys/men.
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Women and some other minorities are raised to not even consider using acts of violence to protect ourselves, like it never crosses our minds as a possibility that we could physically hurt an assailant if we wanted to. We have internalized a sense of weakness that isn’t actually true. This has been detrimental to our safety as well as the safety of other women. Fuck the patriarchy for doing this to us.
Icl, I'd say it's the opposite in terms of we need less fatherlessness, not just for girls but boys as well; not only does no father figure often lead to degenerocity, particularly in women, but also since a father would care about protecting his daughter more than anything (hopefully), they can help/teach their daughters to protect themselves.
Women naturally being more compassionate, definitely leads to them being more vulnerable though, I agree.
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Schools should be teaching boys to respect women and not believe they have a 'right' to women's bodies.
If we hit the source of the problem it can be fixed ... and the source is not women, it's boys/men.
Good to know I'm the problem. How's that strategy working out for you? Driving up toxic masculinity numbers this month?
