Women’s Self Defense Video from the 1940’s

Hey guys, I think my allergies are getting the best of me and I’m experiencing a bit of a brain fog- so while I go and pop some anti-histamines, check out this women’s self defense film from 1947.

Enjoy!

Miss USA’s Self Defense Solution

Apparently there’s been a bit of a hub-bub over comments made by the most recent Miss USA (the fact that we still have beauty pageants kind of baffles me, but whatever) in which she suggests women learn self defense to avoid rape and sexual assaults.

Honestly, I don’t really know specifically what she said, but that’s essentially what I heard she said….If you couldn’t tell by now, journalistic writing is not exactly my strong suit. Anyway, from what I understand that was her stance on combating sexual assualt, and apparently the internet lost their minds.

Let’s get this out right here, right now: there is no one, simple solution to this problem, and I think that’s where Miss USA made a mistake. Maybe she interpreted the question as “what is one thing that can contribute to reducing the instances of rape and sexual assault?” Because really, it’s a multi-faceted problem that doesn’t have just one solution. And I can see where people would be angry at a simple response of “teach women self defense”- it transfers responsibility of the crime from the transgressor to the victim, and sounds too similar to blaming a victim because of how they were dressed and were somehow inviting the assault.  But then we should also be angry at the simple response of “teach men not to rape”. We teach people all the time not to lie, steal, murder and a slew of other crimes that happen all around the world every single day. This is a problem that has to be addressed from multiple sides in order to see serious change.

I believe (and hope) that Miss America had the best of intentions in her response, and I do endorse the idea of women learning and consistently practicing self defense methods, but also agree with the rest of the internet in the assertion that it is not the end-all, be-all solution to the problem.

What do you all think about what she said? Let me know- otherwise, have a great day everyone!