Feminist author and martial artist, Nancy Jane Moore, has started a blog on blogspot to help women discuss ways to defend themselves.
Here’s her release:
As some of you know, I’m working on a book on self defense. My goal is to welcome people to the concept that they can learn to take care of themselves, instead of to frighten them into studying self defense by listing all the dangers out there. I’d like to convince people — and particularly women — that self defense skills aren’t restricted to superheroes and that everyone can learn enough to protect themselves.
To help educate people (and to help sell the book), I’ve started a blog: Taking Care of Ourselves at blogspot.
This seems sort of like the Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog, to me: a need that had been discussed for a while, and is just now being met. I hope that Nancy Jane Moore finds an audience and support for her concept.
—
UPDATE: Nomen points out another blog with a similar theme. Thanks, Nomen!
I had no idea what Nancy J. Moore thinks about self-defense, and what she intends to say in her book. I checked the link, though, and I wish her the best of luck. Without a single exception, any time I have sat through a ‘self-defense’ class targeted at women, I have been appalled. Those could have been summed as “How to mistakenly believe that we can disable any assailant, and thus lose any chance to get away… while heaping as much harm on ourselves as possible”
But what she says right on top of her blog is exactly what anyone not actively seeking a violent confrontation should keep in his mind, first and foremost:
“And while learning a few strikes or blocks can be useful, self defense rarely requires a fight. By paying attention and trusting their instincts, most people can protect themselves without punching someone out.”
The sad truth is that an attacker will pick on targets that he believes he can handle. In most cases he will be right.
i’m not sure if it’s entirely accurate to describe that blog as a first-of-its-kind resource, though. http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/ has been around for a while, as have a few other conceptually similar sites.
Thanks, Nomen! I’ve added the link to the post.
Thanks for your post about Taking Care of Ourselves. I hope people will come visit and contribute their ideas. One of the things I really like about blogs is the ability to carry on a conversation.
And I appreciate information about other self defense resources online. One of purposes is to point people in the direction of good information.
I don’t know if y’all want to endorse the No Nonsense Self Defense site or not. Their section on High Risk Behavior and Rape seems like a bit of nasty victim-blaming to me, despite their protests to the contrary. They also seem to be putting all the onus on women to avoid being raped, instead of just arresting the damned rapist already.
[I need a new handle. The above Bonnie isn’t me! Hi, Bonnie!]
Wow. You’re right Bonnie in comment #5. And the author doesn’t help by the hardly coherent explanation. Hope they can do self defense better than they can defend their position in writing.
hmm. i wonder what the reaction here would be if i were to post a link to The Cornered Cat …
I don’t know what others thought, but thanks for the link to The Cornered Cat. I’m looking for websites to review. I’m going to spend some time on the No Nonsense site, too.