Friday, May 01, 2009

And Sometimes You Stand and Fight

A 17-year-old high school marching band student beat up two assailants who tried to mug her as she walked to school in this high desert community about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

My martial arts teacher once said that the cowards are the ones who attack you from behind. This means that if you show any amount of backbone, they're more likely to back off than somebody who, say, punches you in the face. These are the sorts of people who are also less likely to be armed, which definately helped our heroine.

I would have liked a little more back story on this student, tho. I'm always interested in why some people fight back and some people don't (again, them not being armed and her knowing how to use a baton probably helped).

5 comments so far. What are your thoughts?

inkgrrl said...

Huzzah for her! That's the high school I went to - the area has gone downhill from the desert rathole it was when I grew up there (and that's saying something).

Jackie M. said...

Go band.

Ismone said...

I saw another article that said she kicked one and punched the other in the face before hitting them with the baton. I think I like this girl. In a video interview clip, she said "well, I didn't want to get mugged or raped or anything."

Although I know not everyone is capable of fighting back, due to physical abilities or due to freezing, I think it is really good for these stories to get press because then girls think they can resist, and more of them do.

Kameron Hurley said...

Ismone - yeah, I think it's incredibly important to circulate these kinds of stories. For those who cannot fight back, or who are unwilling to take the risk, it's still a good lesson. Showing women as active agents - instead of victims - is incredibly refreshing.

Anonymous said...

females are the stronger sex.