Mickey Z. -- World News Trust
Aug. 2, 2016
Alongside commitment is awareness.
We must recognize and accept the realities of what we’re up against and then do the work to stay as safe as possible within the confines of such pervasive danger.
This is not victim-blaming, e.g. “Why was she in that neighborhood or wearing her headphones?” Predators are predators. It’s not you, your outfit, how much you drank, the way you danced, or the route home you took. The predator is the only one to blame. Always.
Thus, a major part of awareness = understanding more about predators.
For the record, when I discuss predators in my writing or at my seminars, I refer to them as males (he, him, etc.). This reason for this is frighteningly simple and accurate: The VAST majority of predators are male. To state otherwise is to deny the evidence and potentially put oneself at increased risk.
Since I’m certain that at least one person out there will take offense at this line of thought, I’ll offer some basic statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice (hardly a feminist or “radical” outpost). Here is a brief list of different types of murders following by the percentage of which are committed by males:
Okay, moving right along…
Predator-Prey Dynamic
The predator almost always has the advantage of surprise. He knows when and where he will attack and he is not looking for a fair fight. Therefore, we can never, ever be 100 percent ready against such predators. How about 50 percent? That’s doable, but we must really prepare.
This means studying and never underestimating predators. It’s a lot to stomach, but the more you know about predators the quicker you’ll recognize and thus avoid them.
Predators target, stalk, and plan. If this sounds paranoid or extreme to you, I invite you to peruse “advice” books and blogs from so-called “pick-up artists” (PUAs). I’ve read such manifestoes (including the PUA bible, The Game) and discovered how these men dedicate much of their waking hours to developing, testing, and then passing on methods of malicious manipulation to trap their targets.
More to consider:
Remember the pledge: “I will resist and I will survive, by any means necessary.”
Simultaneously, you must learn about yourself. You must study your daily routines and environments. You can practice role reversal via self-stalking: meticulously analyze your own patterns. Try to see yourself the way a predator may see you.
More awareness advice, from the Center for Anti-Violence Education:
Awareness can be ugly
Obviously, it’s not easy to become aware and to accept what you’ll learn. Perhaps this is why so few people do it. But please know this: Whether or not you do the work to commit and expand awareness, predators will be doing the work to seek out what they perceive as easy prey.
Remember the pledge: I will resist and I will survive, by any means necessary.
Third and final part of this series, coming soon: The practical and the tactical.
Mickey Z. is currently writing two books, a memoir called How to Lose Friends & Influence Nobody: My Life as an “Activist,” and a novel entitled stain red. In the meantime, he can be found here.
Everything you know about self-defense is wrong (part 2) by Mickey Z. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://worldnewstrust.com/everything-you-know-about-self-defense-is-wrong-part-2-mickey-z.