Text Me When You're Home: The Gender Imbalance in Safety Precautions

It’s a familiar scene to all women: a late walk home, soaking under the dim streetlights and eerie twilight, keys gripped tightly in one hand facing outwards and a single headphone covering your ear giving way to the music whispering low enough to still be able to listen for footsteps behind you. The speedwalk gets tiring as you desperately try to escape an imaginary yet likely chase, the sound of your heartbeat overpowering the anxious panting echoing off of the surrounding properties, picking up its pace each time you pass an alleyway peeking through the cluster of buildings.

After intense contemplation, you pull your cellphone out of your jacket pocket with trembling hands and scroll through your contacts list, a quivering finger tapping on the first name you see. The faint sound of music halts, the lone headphone instead muttering your familiar ringtone, a favorite song that in any other instance would be comforting but now only heightens your anxiety with each time it replays. Just before you lose all hope, the friend’s inviting voice quietly greets you, inquiring about a reason as to why you’re calling so late at night. Your voice, in turn, though it’s meant to seem strong, involuntarily wavers as you attempt to intimidate anyone who may be nearby despite your eyes’ understanding that there’s no one around. Luckily, you’re able to hold a conversation with them until you reach safe haven at last, pushing your front door open, once more glancing behind you before feeling the warm comfort of home.

Any woman can recognize this as a basic safety procedure and an unfortunately common experience. However, to most men, it’s foreign. To put it simply, it’s no sweat for men to go out alone without having much to fear. When women walk alone, it takes the acknowledgment of horrifying possibilities which could easily occur to men, but more often meet face-to-face with vulnerable, defenseless women.

When going out, women are urged to practice their necessary safety precautions. In case of a dangerous situation, they are encouraged to be armed with pepper spray and self defense tools, share their constant location with loved ones, take self defense classes, stick with company if possible, and even have a defense dog to walk with. These safety measures are fundamental for women, yet they’re overlooked by most men who are oblivious to the dangers surrounding them only because they aren’t the main targets.

Given the importance of this topic, I found it beneficial to gather information from people who are affected by the severity of this issue. I interviewed two avid runners, one male, one female, who both run in different circumstances due to this matter. As I suspected, I gathered drastically different information from the two of them separately.

To begin with, I asked them the same question: can you tell us about your running routine? The male interviewee (Interviewee 1) shared that he runs 3-6 miles alone outside four times a week, usually between 5:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. In contrast, the female interviewee (Interviewee 2) shared that she is only allowed by her parents to run indoors by treadmill. If she wants to run outside, she must run with a male companion or at least 2 friends. From this, I personalized specific questions based on their running circumstances.

As expected, the two interviews went in completely contrasting directions. I asked Interviewee 1 if he has ever felt unsafe or uncomfortable while running alone, to which he responded: “No. I’ve never been followed or anything. I’ve run through shady areas, but I’ve never been followed.” When I asked him if he thought his experience would be different if he was a woman, he let me know that he didn’t know as he wasn’t really sure how women feel. He said that they feel a sense of danger for good reason, but he doesn’t feel anything wrong when he runs. I then found out that he doesn’t take any precautions while running alone as he feels safe. To wrap it up, he believes that to address these safety imbalances, a good place to start is for women to start running in more public places.

Thanking Interviewee 1 for his time, I moved on to Interviewee 2, who gave me interesting input. Her answer to my first question intrigued me, so I asked how running with a companion compared to running alone. She told me that, in a perfect world, she would love to run outside, immersing herself in the moment, but that unfortunately isn’t her reality. She explained that running with a companion is different because she has to match the other’s pace, plan times to run, and be conscious of her surroundings. In her words, “It isn’t as freeing as running alone.”

Regarding the risks and challenges women face compared to men, she gave me her opinion: “I think it’s just more present in a woman’s mind to be thinking about their surroundings in that way, to always have to be alert.” Going hand-in-hand with this, I asked why she thinks women are so used to thinking this way. She told me she believed the normalization of negative experiences among women has begun to influence girls from a young age to fear being alone. Approaching the end of our time together, she believes that this issue is being addressed improperly and we can see that through the continuous reports of assault. She said that in the meantime, while it’s still happening, you can change your environment and develop the tools to keep yourself safe.

To close it out, I asked if she had any advice she’d like to share with others about balancing safety and independence while running. “There’s a difference when they kind of lead into one another and it becomes a grey area—that’s when being scared doesn’t help you anymore. Be aware of your surroundings, but don’t let that fear take over.”

These interviews helped me better understand the extreme differences between how men comprehend this topic and how women do. It takes personal experience and exposure to these circumstances to truly understand the fear that’s unfortunately but rightfully instilled into women’s minds. Not all, but a notable amount of men are almost completely oblivious to the dangers that women are exposed to, and will likely never genuinely recognize the severity of the situation at hand. Hopefully, whether it be in schools, at home, or in the media, this issue could be properly addressed and be spread across communities.

Interested? Find more by Maria Yolanda here!

ABOUT MARIA YOLANDA

Maria Yolanda is a freshman at Centner Academy. Beyond just reporting, Maria is also a digital organizer, designer and editor at The Pollinator Post. Maria has experience as a 7th-grade journalist and as an author of a suspenseful, thrilling novella. She has a strong passion for covering true crime, along with conducting interviews and surveys. Maria is fascinated by seeing the world from other people’s perspectives and putting herself in their minds.