When children are young, they often have a fear of the dark. Most people eventually learn to turn off their night light, but when the sun goes down many women feel this fear long past childhood.
Despite the progression toward gender equality in society, the unsettling degree to which women still worry for their safety proves there is still progress to be made.
News stories like those of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, a young woman killed while running, contribute to this fear. While this may seem like a rare occurrence, many teenagers can already recall times they have feared for their personal safety. Senior Gena German can relate to feeling uncomfortable while walking to her car alone. “There have been several times when someone drives next to me and tries to make conversation with me,” she said.
The frequency of these unnerving situations has forced women to live anxiously. Cross country coach Jane Wheeler feels the need to be careful during morning workouts. “I used to run in the morning in the dark. I would carry Mace and wouldn’t run alone,” she said. Women should be able to practice the activities they love without concern for their personal safety.
This fearful environment makes parenting young girls difficult. Wheeler, as a mom, has to keep her daughters safe without instilling a constant sense of fear in them. “It’s this balance between I want them to be safe but I don’t want them to fear humans,” she said. She also has to maintain a level of cautiousness, for their safety and hers. “When I’m with my daughters I’m very aware of people around us,” she said.
When this type of behavior is necessary for a woman to feel safe, it is evident that society needs to change.
While general security concerns all of the public, women experience these dangers differently than men. German believes this is due to the higher levels of sexual assault against women. “I view this as a women’s issue because a woman is more likely to be sexually assaulted or kidnapped,” she said. While anyone can be scared of the dark, fearing for one’s safety at night is predominantly a women’s issue.
Routine situations such as walking to one’s car after work should be careless but are terrifying for women. Young girls are taught to keep themselves safe in a way boys typically are not. As long as women need to carry Mace, travel in groups and attempt to avoid intimidating strangers, society is not providing the safety every person deserves. Darkness should be a child’s fear, not a woman’s.
