when guys try to claim that girls don't have it that bad,
i want to laugh in their face and point them to the self-defense unit of my ninth grade gym class,
where across the mats the boys were learning how to flip and throw each other while a man in a padded suit told us girls to yell "fire" instead of "rape"
because people were more likely to help that way.

we weren't taught how to punch as much as we were taught to claw at the eyes and kick at the groin and keep screaming for help,
don't stop screaming for help.

a week later we were being marked on how we did
as a grown ass man in a padded suit wrestled a bunch of teenage girls to the floor in a simulated rape scenario.

i had an asthma attack in the middle of it and realized,
"oh. if this were real, i'd be done."

i don't think guys understand that while they were being told not to talk to strangers, girls were being told not to talk to strange men.

don't stop screaming for help.

this fear is taught.