I’ve been watching a lot of true crime movies and shows lately—as a lot of women have. It seems there is a phenomena by which women tend to make up the majority of viewers and listeners when it comes to true crime shows and podcasts. There are a lot of theories on why this is, but I have one of my own: we are learning important information for our safety. Women are far more likely than men to be killed by someone they know. Maybe in our guts, we know it, and we don’t even need any research to tell us that. If you’re a woman, then you know that every day you step out of your home, you have this fear lingering over your head. Is anyone following me? Is anyone watching me? We are so used to living with that fear, we hardly even notice it anymore. It’s second nature to make sure nobody is behind us when we get in our cars. Men don’t live with such fear. I wish we didn’t need to learn so much about self-defense, but we do. And here are lessons women can learn from true crime shows.
Source: FG Trade / Getty
Be rude: stay alive
In so many of the horror stories we know, being polite is the thing that led to one’s death. Accepting a ride from a stranger. Giving directions to a stranger. We do feel nervous when strangers approach us but women especially are taught to be polite and agreeable. We can think more about that than our safety, and that’s something predators rely on.
