Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwrba!cepu!ucla-cs!mccolm From: mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Re: Last Night Message-ID: <5874@ucla-cs.ARPA> Date: Wed, 5-Jun-85 23:02:50 EDT Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.5874 Posted: Wed Jun 5 23:02:50 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 11-Jun-85 02:38:57 EDT Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 44 I respectfully submit that the sub-humanoid males who harass women are not deterred by anger. You object (quite naturally) to their behavior. Fine. But they care not one iota for your feelings. So, if you intend to lash back at them, may I humbly suggest :-) Slime: "Hey, Lady, look at this!" Response: choose one of: "Put that silly thing away." "Look at what?" "What the hell is that?" Seriously, folks, this is a toughie. One would think that since the vast majority of people are toilet-trained by the time they're adults, they would also be able to behave themselves as well. Sadly, no, this is not the case. Blasting away at scuzzolas just wastes ammo, in my opinion, and if you want to avoid trouble with ethical issues (or the law), perhaps something a bit less lethal, and more smelly, would be in order. How about a high-pressure cannister of Eau de Skunk? :-) On the proper punishments for crimes like rape, the law has to do something reasonable about crime, punishment, and appropriateness. This means that in all likelihood, the victim will be disappointed with the sentence. That's mainly because the State has all kinds of ethical responsibilities. BUT, and this is important-- BUT, a lone woman in a dark alley, presented with a dangerous attacker, has NO SUCH OBLIGATIONS. Except toward self- preservation, of course. So, if *you* (speaking mainly to female readers) are attacked in a dark alley by some strange person, then the key phrase is ESCAPE AND SURVIVAL. Your advantages can only be surprise, speed, training, and determination. And if you decide to use it, firepower. Just what you do is your own affair. Verbal assaults from pedestrians on the drivers of vehicles like the one described are a symptom of some greater evil in society, and I am at a loss about what to do. But someone on foot who is yelling insults at the driver of a 2000-lb hunk of metal fully capable of dangerous speeds just hasn't got all their marbles. --fini-- Eric McColm UCLA (oo' - kluh) Funny Farm for the Criminally Harmless UUCP: ...!{ihnp4,trwspp,cepu,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!mccolm ARPA: (still) mccolm@UCLA-CS.ARPA (someday) mccolm@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU "Brevity is Wit; Politics is Obscenity; Relativity is Maddening."