I know I’m going to face some reactionary backlash for this, and may even be purged from College Republicans, but it needs to be brought to people’s attention that projects like Project Saferide are necessary in a society where one-fourth of women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime (according to a commonly quoted FBI statistic), and where women are under threat of sexual violence from men. Much of the controversy seems to stem from a lack of “equality,” which I find amusing given that we men sometimes complain about the lack of “sex equality” when we don’t get something we want or when women get something that we don’t.
We men run nearly everything: the UN, punk rock, the military, capitalism (and in socialist countries, socialism), the church, both ends of the political spectrum, most of the House, Senate and administration, and quite a bit of other stuff. Yet, when women want or need something like a shuttle service to keep them safe from our more predatory brethren, we throw a fit. It’s now illegal, which is a different issue, but quite a few people I know have complained about its very existence (not funding issues, legality, or anything like that — just the idea of a women-only shuttle). Saferide (to my knowledge) existed for women who weren’t comfortable with men in certain situations for whatever reason — a bread crumb where we own the bakeries, but we were pissed off at that because we didn’t get to control that, too.
As for the $2.31 we men spend on Saferide through our fees, so what? It’s 69 cents less than what I pay for a Heineken at Max’s, or about the cost to see Tear It Up play live. Some may cite the state taking money through force, but we don’t have to come to school here, so it’s not exactly coercion. Maybe we men should have to pay it, though, sort of like a “man tax” to make up for all the rapes, disrespect, beatings, cat calls, harassment, gropings, coerced abortions and all-around bullshit our gender has inflicted on women for the past few thousand years.
Saferide is now illegal, and “equality” prevails (another example of how we need to do things ourselves, and not depend on the welfare-state). I don’t mean to sound like a radical feminist or anything, but maybe we should give up our male privilege and not get so pissed, offended and defensive every time women want something or do something that doesn’t include us.