"Still, I was not taught to shoot on the idea that I might need to kill a rapist. I find that a somewhat horrifying message to give a young woman."
And neither was that the message I intended to give them. It's an educational issue. I live on a farm and we kill a large portion of what we eat ourselves. Given a collapse of the supply-chain ecosystem that keeps grocery stores stocked with food, my family won't be scratching their heads wondering where the food went. I don't expect the global collapse of a food supply chain. I would guess it's statistically less likely to affect any one individual than rape is. But the tools for dealing with a worst-case scenario are best learned in advance. And so I intend to educate my children about self-defense in much the same way.
"I do not believe that overemphasizing a need to be prepared to physically assault another person is a means to teach women to not behave as prey in relation to men."
Isn't it similar to how you emphasized a need for mutual consent to your children? Moreover, isn't physical defense merely one more tool to pull out when others have crossed a boundary? I understand your argument that it isn't likely to be used, but it seems like you're drawing a distinction between the value of having boundaries and not letting people cross them, and the value of being able to reestablish those boundaries once crossed. Why do so strongly prefer the former to the latter?
This seems especially odd considering your own position of being physically capable of defense. Doesn't it seem like a good idea to have other women be as capable of defending themselves as you are?
"..., I will suggest you are putting your children at grave risk to view protecting their sexuality as an issue for their teen years."
That's the question I mentioned in my last post that your experience has raised for me. I intend to very carefully reconsider how I'm protecting my children in their current environment. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
I feel like you have misunderstood me in exactly the way that I hoped to avoid by writing such a lengthy reply.
In brief: I have no problem with teaching kids how to defend themselves. But I think kids who know how to defend themselves but were never taught healthy boundaries are at greater risk than kids with zero training in "defense" but much clearer boundaries than average. My sons were never taught to shoot and never took martial arts. That did not prevent my oldest son from hitting or shoving classmates in elementary school who were refusing to respect his boundaries.
And neither was that the message I intended to give them. It's an educational issue. I live on a farm and we kill a large portion of what we eat ourselves. Given a collapse of the supply-chain ecosystem that keeps grocery stores stocked with food, my family won't be scratching their heads wondering where the food went. I don't expect the global collapse of a food supply chain. I would guess it's statistically less likely to affect any one individual than rape is. But the tools for dealing with a worst-case scenario are best learned in advance. And so I intend to educate my children about self-defense in much the same way.
"I do not believe that overemphasizing a need to be prepared to physically assault another person is a means to teach women to not behave as prey in relation to men."
Isn't it similar to how you emphasized a need for mutual consent to your children? Moreover, isn't physical defense merely one more tool to pull out when others have crossed a boundary? I understand your argument that it isn't likely to be used, but it seems like you're drawing a distinction between the value of having boundaries and not letting people cross them, and the value of being able to reestablish those boundaries once crossed. Why do so strongly prefer the former to the latter?
This seems especially odd considering your own position of being physically capable of defense. Doesn't it seem like a good idea to have other women be as capable of defending themselves as you are?
"..., I will suggest you are putting your children at grave risk to view protecting their sexuality as an issue for their teen years."
That's the question I mentioned in my last post that your experience has raised for me. I intend to very carefully reconsider how I'm protecting my children in their current environment. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.