The fear of rape puts many women in their place - indoors, intimidated, dependent yet again on material barriers and protectors.. I was advised to stay indoors at night, to wear baggy clothes, to cover or cut my hair, to try to look like a man, to move someplace more expensive, to take taxis, to buy a car, to move in groups, to get a man to escort me–all modern versions of Greek walls and Assyrian veils, all asserting it was my responsibility to control my own and men's behavior rather than society's to ensure my freedom. I realized that many women had been so successfully socialized to know their place that they had chosen more conservative, gregarious lives without realizing why. The very desire to walk alone had been extinguished in them–but it had not in me. .Rebecca Solnit
About This Quote
A study done by the Center for Sex and Gender Information and Education at Columbia University confirmed that women reported a fear of rape if they were wearing a skirt or a dress that was above the knee. However, the study also found that men have a fear of being attacked by women if they are wearing a shirt that is above the elbow.
Source: Wanderlust: A History Of Walking
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