New Tea With Alice: John Hastings

Just listened to this one and it was a great conversation! Please have him on again.

Jeff Constable

I think the label of safe space politicises a very normal process, where like minded or like-genre-d people come together in a social way. It’s a very human thing to want to be with “your people” and yes, it’s a way of making yourself an island of safety in a world that can sometimes feel dangerous. It’s not a bad thing until it cuts people out of a conversation that they ought to be part of, which you see happen in different but very similar ways in the Very Left, and in Old School Boys Club Nepotism. I don’t think that the idea of having a retreat of sympathy is incompatible with the idea of self defence. I feel like there’s a false binary being pushed by both sides of this “self defence vs safe space” argument, because it takes only a small nudge to move it into the currently extremely heated dynamic of “personal responsibility (characterised as randian individualism) vs social welfare (characterised as nanny state)” The reality of the situation though is that a moderately strong man will beat a strong woman in all but the most controlled environments. Martial arts might give you a skill set that makes you feel safer, but you can always be taken off guard or misstepped.

I remember seeing a story recently on SBS where a group of young women had come together to create a safe space...I want to say it was on a university campus, but I can't be 100% certain. Anyway, the space promoted very feminine pursuits such as craft, sewing and they talked a lot about their fears and how they approached the world with that fear I couldn't help but think that they were promoting a certain victim hood mentality among the group. There was very little that was empowering about the story and I felt there was something decidedly off about it. I'm doing some research at the moment for a new novel and have been exploring a martial art discipline called Krav Maga. Developed by the Israeli Defence Force, Krav Maga - aside from being a physically demanding martial art (and therefore great for one's health) - it has become increasingly popular among women, in particular young women, who do not want to be seen as victims and want the confidence to feel empowered - and confident that they can handle themselves should, god forbid, they find themselves having to. There's an argument that poses that women shouldn't have to resort to self defence training in order to feel safe and I get that, but there's also an argument that poses that women shouldn't devolve into a victim state and retreat from the world either. It's an interesting conversation - and this was just a thought I had while listening to the latest episode.

Dean

Haha love the description! Now I'm intrigued!

antzpantz