She should write Ford and ask them to thank their engineers for saving her life.

Your life is too insignificant for terrorists to bother to disrupt.

Or end in your being the victim of a hate crime.

The "asked for directions" example hits home for me because oftentimes when someone approaches me (male) on the street I will assume they are about ask for money. Then about 80 percent of time they ask for directions, and I feel like a prejudiced dick.

True. I know of an opposite scenario (woman hitting on man on the subway) that led to marriage. There is a niche for public stranger interaction (though in fairness to Jezebel it's probably not done well very often).

In this case his screenname is "Feminism is fascism" so I think he's wearing his hate on his sleeve. Why someone who thinks feminism is fascism would read Jezebel is beyond me — maybe he's a missionary from 4chan.

Some of us live in neighborhoods that are nice enough that we don't have to worry about people walking door to door kicking them in. For the rest there are more advanced lock solutions.

Yeah, it's worse. She would have been better off just shading in a rectangle.

You laughed at washing your sheets weekly? May heaven have mercy on anyone you share a bed with.

"In a way, we're all victims."

Very true re: your last point. A dude's dude can be a total insane, jealous cock to all the women he meets.

Yeah, guys should be more sensitive to women's safety concerns, particularly in blind-date scenarios. I think, though, that most guys do not internalize as adolescents how the power imbalance between the genders is shaping up, and it takes them some time to realize that in adult life. That's more of an explanation…

Choose the bar yourself, only order bottles or cans, watch the bartender open them. That's the level of vigilance you need if you want to be super safe (e.g. the level a man uses if visiting a dodgy third-world country known for tourist muggings).

A stranger is just a friend (or rapist) you haven't met.

A Montreal woman a fews year ago walked in front of a commuter train because she was on her phone (she died). The cake-taking event is a dude in Vancouver who had his iPod so loud that he didn't hear a helicopter crashing onto him and run for cover (he also died).

Good point.

What happened in your case? You said 'no' and he thought you were just play acting?

The way the police address theft issues is not to educate thieves that stealing is wrong. It's to put up signs that say "lock your valuables! thieves operate here!" or "keep your valuables hidden when you park!" or "put your purses in your trunk!" Seems fairly similar (though less politically charged) to the…

The kind of rapist who targets a stranger walking alone at night is probably a sick, twisted individual. The kind who date rapes someone because he thought she wanted it, or the boyfriend who rapes his girlfriend when she's not into it could probably be salvaged.

Tacitly the encouraging the general public to spam the UW-M press spokesperson is not going to help anything. The press spokesperson doesn't craft policy.