Today while walking home from work I passed by an intimate ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the École Polytechnique Massacre (aka, the Montreal Massacre).
I am a so-called Generation Xer. The list of cultural and political events that helped define Gen X include things like fall of the Berlin Wall, AIDS, the challenger disaster, dot-com, and grunge. For me, and many Canadian women in my cohort, the École Polytechnique Massacre of 14 women is on that list.
This is a running blog, not a political blog. And as a runner, like most runners, I’m concerned about safety on the run*. But it really pisses me off that as a woman runner I think I need to be more concerned about safety than my male counterparts. That I believe I am more likely to be a target of violence. That I feel I’m taking a risk if I’m running alone, especially in the dark. That I live in a society in which running websites need to post tips to help ensure women run safely. That there are places I won’t run or am cautioned not to run simply because I am woman. That I don’t always feel safe on the run and that the men I run with don’t seem to experience this unsettled feeling to the same extent.
As I overheard a speaker say at that ceremony today, we won’t stop until violence against women stops. Fear doesn’t stop me. But it pisses me off.
Title: No Doubt – I’m Just a Girl. 1994.
*These are my personal opinions and I do not meant to imply all women/men share these feelings or that my perception of safety is grounded in any statistical reality. It even pisses me off that I feel this way.
It pisses me off too. I hate that I don’t feel comfortable running alone if it is really early in the morning and I don’t know how many people will be around. I hate that I sometimes to ask my husband to come running with me because I’m worried about my safety. I hate that my husband told me a running route and part way through I thought “of course he wouldn’t find this sketchy…but I do.” All of that really pisses me off because it shouldn’t be that way.
Don’t apologize for getting pissed off about it. Keep talking about it – maybe that will somehow help it change a little.
Hear, hear. I’ll add on to that list I hate that I can’t be spontaneous, like if I say I’m running XYZ and I change my mind mid-run want to follow ABC I won’t because I don’t want to leave to leave my planned route just in case.
Unfortunately, women always have been and always will be vulnerable. All we can do is protect ourselves and not put ourselves in places or situations that are unsafe. I try to run with pepper spray, but I don’t always. I don’t like having to worry about my safety, and it isn’t “right,” but I’m not going to let it keep me off the streets either.
My ability to outrun is my safety plan, which admittedly is not well thought out.
Well said.