Anxieyote
Sobriety over everything else • 30 • Midwest
- Mar 24, 2021
- 445
I was thinking about this question recently when I saw a YouTube segment between two people arguing about whether biological women should be allowed to join the military in physical roles like infantry.
One of the debaters presented an analogy involving a young boy who is getting bullied in grade school.
The Mom tells her son, "You should never fight your battles physically. Use words and diplomacy to deescalate the situation."
The boy follows his mother's advice, and presents many logical reasons as to why the bully shouldn't terrorize him. The bully ignores his words, and proceeds to beat him up.
The boy returns home, and asks his Dad for advice. His Dad says, "Go to the gym, and get stronger. When the bully confronts you again, ask him if he would like to challenge you to a fight."
The next time he is harrassed by the bully, the boy asks him if his harassment is an invitation for a fight. The bully looks him and up down, and notices the boy's physical improvement. He walks away, and doesn't make fun of him again, knowing that further verbal harassment may result in an unfavorable outcome for himself.
The purpose of this analogy was to highlight that you aren't always going to be able to talk yourself out of a physical fight. If someone is determined to hurt you; and they also know the likelihood of facing consequences for hurting you is low—they may proceed to take advantage of the situation, simply because they can.
It sometimes falls onto the victim's shoulders to provide a convincing reason to their instigator as to why they should be left alone; and possessing physical strength is one way to diffuse their desire to challenge you.
In today's world though, we have more options to defend ourselves if the need arises. Perhaps you own a can of mace, or a firearm. Either way, do you think you would be capable of protecting yourself if you were challenged to a physical fight?
One of the debaters presented an analogy involving a young boy who is getting bullied in grade school.
The Mom tells her son, "You should never fight your battles physically. Use words and diplomacy to deescalate the situation."
The boy follows his mother's advice, and presents many logical reasons as to why the bully shouldn't terrorize him. The bully ignores his words, and proceeds to beat him up.
The boy returns home, and asks his Dad for advice. His Dad says, "Go to the gym, and get stronger. When the bully confronts you again, ask him if he would like to challenge you to a fight."
The next time he is harrassed by the bully, the boy asks him if his harassment is an invitation for a fight. The bully looks him and up down, and notices the boy's physical improvement. He walks away, and doesn't make fun of him again, knowing that further verbal harassment may result in an unfavorable outcome for himself.
The purpose of this analogy was to highlight that you aren't always going to be able to talk yourself out of a physical fight. If someone is determined to hurt you; and they also know the likelihood of facing consequences for hurting you is low—they may proceed to take advantage of the situation, simply because they can.
It sometimes falls onto the victim's shoulders to provide a convincing reason to their instigator as to why they should be left alone; and possessing physical strength is one way to diffuse their desire to challenge you.
In today's world though, we have more options to defend ourselves if the need arises. Perhaps you own a can of mace, or a firearm. Either way, do you think you would be capable of protecting yourself if you were challenged to a physical fight?