I see the concept for Schrodinger's Rapist getting a lot of flack. People, when confronted with this idea, say things like "This is stupid. Not everyone is a rapist!" or "This is just feminist propaganda meant to instill paranoia in women and make them afraid of men."
I personally think that everyone who wants to abide by the theory has every right to do so. Let me give you an example:
About two years ago I was seventeen and during Halloween break I was working in my Mum's office. But there was one day when my Mum couldn't drive me home and I had to get the bus. This was all fine - I was perfectly capable of organizing a bus for myself and then walking home from the bus station. My journey to get home that day was a half hour bus ride and then another 40 minutes walking down a dark street to get to my home which was a bit out of the way. Not a problem, I'd walked that road countless times much later in the night.
But this day was different. As I was waiting for the bus to arrive a man approached me. This man was in his mid to late twenties and seemed to be travelling. He hadn't shaved in a few days and had a hiking bag with him. He came up to me and started talking to me. He asked me where I was from, where I was going - all standard making-travelling-conversation questions. I tried to act as disinterested as possible because I was an awkward teenage girl, alone, and didn't want to just ask him to leave me alone. But when this complete stranger came up to me all I could think about was the 40 minutes I would have to walk down a dark, deserted street alone to get to the safety of my own home. He couldn't have known this but I was going to be in an extremely vulnerable position. This may sound like a complete over reaction but all the way home my thoughts went something like this:
Please don't sit beside me on the bus, I'm feeling really uncomfortable and don't want to talk to anyone. Oh God he knows what stop I'm getting off at when I'm going to be alone and vulnerable, 40 minutes away from safety. Shit. Shit. Shit. This is my stop and he's getting off as well. What if he sees my going down this dark unlit street and decides to follow me.
Now, of course that man went his own way and probably didn't give the weird, monosyllabic girl a second thought and I arrived home perfectly safe and intact. But this story could have easily ended very differently.
Normally I don't have an issue with exchanging a few words with strangers but for some reason this man - who was probably a sound, nice guy who was just travelling - made me extremely uncomfortable for no real reason. None of this would have been an issue if I hadn't been young, alone and vulnerable. It must be noted though that it wasn't the man himself that was the issue - swap that man for any other man in the world and I'd have reacted the same - the issue was that if it crossed his mind to do me harm I knew he was about to get a golden opportunity.
This man was Schrodinger's Rapist to me. He had done absolutely nothing untoward or creepy or inappropriate in any way but I still felt extremely unsafe when around him. If he had been walking in the same direction as me my paranoia, unfounded as it was, probably would have forced me to call my elder brother to walk me home or to call a taxi to drive me there.
While the concept of Schrodinger's Rapist is sound - not everyone is a threat to me but if they are an unknown then they have to potential to be - I personally don't apply it to every single person I meet. I'd find it exhausting and the paranoia would wreak my nerves.
However, ever since that day - even though nothing happened - I've had a new understanding and appreciation for people who do set their own risk tolerance and make sure they never find themselves in the vulnerable position I did,
I personally think that everyone who wants to abide by the theory has every right to do so. Let me give you an example:
About two years ago I was seventeen and during Halloween break I was working in my Mum's office. But there was one day when my Mum couldn't drive me home and I had to get the bus. This was all fine - I was perfectly capable of organizing a bus for myself and then walking home from the bus station. My journey to get home that day was a half hour bus ride and then another 40 minutes walking down a dark street to get to my home which was a bit out of the way. Not a problem, I'd walked that road countless times much later in the night.
But this day was different. As I was waiting for the bus to arrive a man approached me. This man was in his mid to late twenties and seemed to be travelling. He hadn't shaved in a few days and had a hiking bag with him. He came up to me and started talking to me. He asked me where I was from, where I was going - all standard making-travelling-conversation questions. I tried to act as disinterested as possible because I was an awkward teenage girl, alone, and didn't want to just ask him to leave me alone. But when this complete stranger came up to me all I could think about was the 40 minutes I would have to walk down a dark, deserted street alone to get to the safety of my own home. He couldn't have known this but I was going to be in an extremely vulnerable position. This may sound like a complete over reaction but all the way home my thoughts went something like this:
Please don't sit beside me on the bus, I'm feeling really uncomfortable and don't want to talk to anyone. Oh God he knows what stop I'm getting off at when I'm going to be alone and vulnerable, 40 minutes away from safety. Shit. Shit. Shit. This is my stop and he's getting off as well. What if he sees my going down this dark unlit street and decides to follow me.
Now, of course that man went his own way and probably didn't give the weird, monosyllabic girl a second thought and I arrived home perfectly safe and intact. But this story could have easily ended very differently.
Normally I don't have an issue with exchanging a few words with strangers but for some reason this man - who was probably a sound, nice guy who was just travelling - made me extremely uncomfortable for no real reason. None of this would have been an issue if I hadn't been young, alone and vulnerable. It must be noted though that it wasn't the man himself that was the issue - swap that man for any other man in the world and I'd have reacted the same - the issue was that if it crossed his mind to do me harm I knew he was about to get a golden opportunity.
This man was Schrodinger's Rapist to me. He had done absolutely nothing untoward or creepy or inappropriate in any way but I still felt extremely unsafe when around him. If he had been walking in the same direction as me my paranoia, unfounded as it was, probably would have forced me to call my elder brother to walk me home or to call a taxi to drive me there.
While the concept of Schrodinger's Rapist is sound - not everyone is a threat to me but if they are an unknown then they have to potential to be - I personally don't apply it to every single person I meet. I'd find it exhausting and the paranoia would wreak my nerves.
However, ever since that day - even though nothing happened - I've had a new understanding and appreciation for people who do set their own risk tolerance and make sure they never find themselves in the vulnerable position I did,
