WARNING. This blog is about gender and alleged sexism. I make no excuses for the fact that my views won’t please all women or men – who are as entitled to their views as I am mine. 
In her ‘My View’ article in yesterday’s I-News, Laura Bates takes issue with the suggestion of women-only train carriages after shockingly-high levels of sexual harassment and assault on public transport. Which she has personally experienced as the founder of The Everyday Sexism Project.
Laura says that ‘Segregation sends the message that all men are innate sexual predators with no control’ and to get this politically-correct message across Laura is being paid handsomely to perpetuate this myth with a full page in The Independent.
What tosh. This is how it works Laura…
If I am travelling with men I am happy to sit with them.
If I am travelling alone, on a busy train during the day, I am probably happy to sit anywhere I can get a seat.
But if I am travelling alone on a near empty train carriage or late at night I would definitely choose a women-only carriage, given the choice.
Trivial comment follows – Especially if it had a smart coffee bar onboard, as in the FOX Photos/Getty image in the newspaper article.
My reasons for this are simple. It’s all about female perceptions, attitudes and choice.
Segregation makes me feel safer and is surely a matter of personal choice. I enjoy most female company, unless they are behaving badly, which is why I am a member of the WI, the Athena Business Network and Mumpreneurs Networking Club.
And anyone who tells me that women and men behave the same in these environments simply hasn’t experienced the gender differences. And I like to choose which environment suits me best, per occasion.
Of course segregation is no alternative to the Police doing their job but it’ll likely reduce sexual assaults and make it easier for the Police to do their job. And if the Unions could convince me that they’d use a second person on driver only trains to keep us all safer, I’d support their campaign on this basis alone.
Finally, I don’t want anyone telling me what I should or should not do, Laura Bates. Just tell me the facts and present your readers with choices.
A ‘Report It To Stop It’ campaign does nothing to make me feel safer travelling alone at night. If I am assaulted and a women-only carriage might have prevented this, why aren’t you using your considerable clout to advance this case thus making travelling by train safer and more fun for female rail travellers who feel like me?
FOXY
info@foxyladydrivers.com
@FOXYSteph