Squeamish Bikini
  • Home
  • Squeamish Features
  • Squeamish Reviews
  • Squeamish News
  • Squeamish Contact
  • About Squeamish

Defend Fear

12/8/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Remember when we were introduced to the pink taser, for ladies to use on lady attackers? If the ladyfication of razors, deodorants and biros are anything to go by I imagine it was twice to price as the normal taser that you could not expect a lady to use to defend herself with her lady hands. The Hello Kitty taser of course bumps the weapon up another price bracket as it's endorsed. By a kitty. But if tasing isn't your thing there are other forms of defence. You can learn self defence of course, so if your attacker kindly agrees to move into the correct position for you to flip them (or move back so you can amaze and astound them with a roly poly), pop a pepper spray in your bag or go with the good old fashioned keys between the knuckles thing. OR you can now get a Defender. 

The Defender is the self defence world's answer to the Smart phone. Funding for the Defender on crowd funding site Indiegogo is currently at $223575, more than double what the makers intended to raise; there is unquestionably a market out there for the handbag defence tool. 

What does this device do? It is described as "a product for those concerned about personal protection and peace of mind. The Defender integrates elements of products and services found separately and elegantly combines them into one compact personal accessory."

If such need should arise and you have the presence of mind then at the press of a button the Defender sprays your attacker and sounds an alarm whilst taking a photo which it sends to a monitoring service aling with GPS information.  
Of course we can carry all these things in our handbags (it has to be handbags because women's clothing doesn't have pockets) and like good Girl Guides always be prepared...to be attacked. Or we could concentrate on reducing an atmosphere of fear. 

I can't help but wonder if women who report their attackers will be asked why they didn't have such a defence device.

The Defender will at first only be available in the US. As the world follows where America leads and these devices become more widely available I can't help but wonder if women who report their attackers will be asked why they didn't have such a defence device. In addition to being quizzed about short skirts or alcohol consumption. 

Dr. Brooke Magnanti also pointed out in the Telegraph that: "The reality is that violent crime is not evenly spread. And, as we know, it's likely to be at the hands of someone we know. What use a pepper spray - even one that can call the police, should you be able to reach it in time, have a data connection and take a picture of your attacker before spraying them - is in that scenario, I don't know."

It is truly curious that any advertising campaign or article addressing the subject of personal safety seem only to focus on the victim's responsibility in such crimes. There are no 'don't attack women' posters, just 'don't get drunk and walk home' posters. There are no demands on the government not to disenfranchise people s they feel little connection to society. Just massive promotions for fear and feeding paranoia. 

Which prompts the question...do we feel fearful because it's dangerous out there, or do we feel fearful because there's money to be made out of it?

Squeamish Kate
submit to reddit
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

    Categories

    All
    Books
    Booze
    Cinematic
    Dress Up
    Educating Sue
    Educating Sue
    Friday 5
    Friday 5
    Geekery
    Gender Agender
    Gender Agender
    Glitter And Twisted
    Glitter And Twisted
    History Repeating
    History Repeating
    How To
    Just A Thought
    Just A Thought
    Let's Get Political
    Let's Get Political
    Music
    Nom Nom Nom
    Nostalgia
    Tellybox
    Why You Should Love

    RSS Feed


Squeamish Bikini

About
Contact us
Write for us

Newsletter

Picture
     Copyright © 2013