Goths and Self-Defense

This was originally supposed to be a reply to the topic "Teenagers admit attacks on goths" but I started ranting and getting so off-topic I figured I'd just post a whole new topic.

I keep hearing time and time again about goths getting attacks(we all mourned over Sophie's death), and it makes me a bit more wary. Odd stares and rude comments come with the territory(sadly.) But one never does know when that will turn to violence.

I admit I'm a big advocate of guns and people knowing how to defend themselves. I took karate classes as a kid(even though it really was just a summer program.)
We have a lot of guns in the house, hunting rifles and hand guns alike. I don't believe in random violence just for the hell of it, but I do believe in not being helpless in a life or death situation.

I don't want to be the girl cowering in the corner begging for her life when someone breaks in with the intent to kill, or when confronted on the street, I want to be the girl standing there with one less bullet in the gun, a body on the ground, who's shaken, traumatized, but otherwise alive.

Even if you live in a country that prohibits guns for self defense, pepper-spray or just adequate self defense knowledge would be better than nothing.

I think its twice as important for goths to know how to defend themselves, because we're the more likely targets.

Though, there is a flip side to it. If you were put into that kind of situation, they might try to pin the blame on you just for being a goth, so you'd also have to be twice as careful.

So, how do the rest of you feel about guns and self defense. Do you think you'd be able to defend yourself if it came to that?

I agree with you 100%. I'm not a huge fan of guns, mainly because I don't know how to use one. As of right now I can really only defend myself with a sword (hehe) but I would like to take karate. I'm not a very big person (106 lbs), easily overpowered. Take that, and the common stereotype that goth girls are sluts, and you've got rape waiting to happen.

I'm careful not to put myself in dangerous situations, like walking downtown alone at night, where all the drunk hicks like to hang out. I'm not too scared of being blamed for the attack because I'm goth, because most people think I'm cute and wouldn't hurt a fly-even when I'm wearing spikes and fishnet.

If I ever did get attacked, I imagine I would take my spiked collar, wrap it around my knuckles, and hit whatever I could. That is if I had time to do that. Otherwise no, I couldn't fight them off, I would have to depend on pepper spray or something.

Gun, not good to me, anything which is designed souly as a weapon is bad. Just fulling more hate and violence and fear. It shouldn't be who's gun is the best. Self defense, yes its your body and you should know how to use it!

Even basic self-defense courses are a really good idea. Even if you can't say "oh yeah, I have a black belt", just knowing how to get yourself out of a situation long enough for you to run like hell is good basic knowledge to have.

I was fortunate enough to have taken a half-semester of simple assailant-stopping moves years ago in junior high (God, I should brush up; that's ancient history now), but I should probably take something more advanced. Like Morwenna, I'm on the smallish side. I like to think that I can just tap some inner rage to get myself out of danger, but that's not a sound plan.

I really dont like the idea of guns at all - it's too easy to make a mistake

I always carry an uncapped spray can of deodorant in my bag and my Dad taught me how to defend myself if grabbed from behind by kicking into the knee, dragging your foot down and STOMPING pretty damned hard. Failing that go for the old tart's trick and TWIST THEM UNTIL THEY POP

I don't own any guns but I do want some. Even without a gun I could utilize anything as a weapon--like my aluminum door stopper.

I always carry pepper spray. To be honest, I sometimes wish some 16 year old jerk would try and attack me, I have some pent-up anger I wouldn't mind letting loose on a smug little face.

I normally carry pepper spray, but I lost my last few ones, and dont have a clue where to get more(a friend gave me the ones I had)

Honestly, I dont think I could own a gun. I know it sounds melodramatic, but when I get depressed(which is often, because of some mental problems I have), I get to the point where I know I imagine blowing my brains out, and it plays over and over again, and I dont want to have the means to make it real

^^ Probably a guns/ammo shop, or maybe an army surplus store.

Wasn't there a time when people just figured that weird scary folks dressed in black and/or spikes were probably also armed?

Edit: Not trying to be insensitive to the things you're dealing with; just trying to think of resources where you could find pepper spray.

Morwenna, I see a lot of people don't like being around/ the idea of guns.
They’re not so bad if you know what you’re doing. I was taught from a young age how to use guns. (Though that's mainly because my dad was into hunting, and they didn't want me shooting myself or someone else
by accident.) Though, pepper spray would probably be a better idea because it doesn’t require a permit, and you can take it more places.

Synth, I guess as long as criminals have guns, they’ll be a necessary evil for the rest of us. Even if they do fuel the hate, fear and violence. Self defense does have its limits.
Its part of why I'm afraid of a new law being made prohibiting guns. It'll leave us at the mercy of those who don't care about laws, who can still buy guns illegally.

RedAngel, Yeah I know what you mean about hoping to tap into inner rage. That was my plan for a while, even though it may be a little unrealistic. I’m not really a small person, but I’m no Amazon either, kind of in-between.

Helen damnation, Haha, yeah. My mom learned that the hard way, she accidentally shot the refrigerator. (Funny story about that.)
I never thought of using spray deodorant as a weapon. I guess any kind of spray that stings would work.

Ginger_Snaps, True, true. I’m always taking into consideration what in the environment could be used as a weapon if necessary. Especially in places like school where pepper spray and other such stuff isn’t allowed. Especially since it’s a small school and I stand out.

Ghost Red, Haha, I get that feeling a lot. (I've heard that attackers won't go after people who have that kind of 'just try me' attitude, they're more likely to go after the easy prey or the completely oblivious people.)

Orpheus Faust, Hmm, I see how owning a gun in that situation could be a bad thing. I’ve played out that image in my head over and over again too, but not really because of depression. Just to imagine what would happen.

RedAngel, I guess people have become complacent over the years?
I kind of like the scary/crazy/ that-weird-chick-in-black, image. It tends to make people not bother me, though not always. For every person who’s afraid of me there will always be that one person who’ll attempt to provoke me for their entertainment.

I just carry around a stick and use it to beat away all the girls lookin' to jump me!

I'm not an americain so guns have no interest to me i think there over hyped and often to easy to have the gun used against you. Thankfully in canada our gun laws seem to work reletively well dispite the problems in ontario and some parts of canada might experience. Self defense courses are great however I try not to look at everyone on the street with fear and paranoia about getting jumped its sad to see so much fear.

I'm not a big fan of guns and would never own one. I think that if they are used properly, they are ok, but alot of em aren't. I think that one should be able to defend herself/himself with thier body or just pepper spray, that way, if they do try to pin the blame on you because your goth it won't be as bad. I agree with Alenuska, self defense courses are great, even though I've never taken one and really need to look into that....

I'm not really a big fan of guns or knives or anything of that sort.

I figure that if I ever have to defend myself I can just use my muscular cyclist legs. But I've never really had any situation where I've had to defend myself. I suppose it's because when I'm out alone at night I'm usually in pretty safe areas, and even then I try to have a "don't you dare come near me" attitude. I think that when to comes to keeping trouble at bay, having a tough attitude helps a lot.

I don't like guns either. I do walk around with a cane though. If anyone messes with me, they'll learn that it isn't an ordinary cane, but a sword cane. Plus I know karate. I like and own daggers, but I would never use one unless my life was in danger.

angelofthenight wrote:

I don't like guns either. I do walk around with a cane though. If anyone messes with me, they'll learn that it isn't an ordinary cane, but a sword cane. Plus I know karate. I like and own daggers, but I would never use one unless my life was in danger.

OOOO, sweeeet! I would like to have one of those sword canes but considering that I mostly spend my time at school and weapons are prohibited in school (which could also mean expulsion for me), I would just be a decoration. I would also like to get myself a double headed battle axe.

angelofthenight wrote:

I don't like guns either. I do walk around with a cane though. If anyone messes with me, they'll learn that it isn't an ordinary cane, but a sword cane. Plus I know karate. I like and own daggers, but I would never use one unless my life was in danger.

Excellent that you know karate! And that cane sounds very Bond.

If some jackass was threatening to rape me I'd definitely prefer to have a gun instead of relying on martial arts or pepper spray. Extreme cases call for extreme measures and having my life and dignity be in potential danger is as extreme as it gets.

Madelchai wrote:

I just carry around a stick and use it to beat away all the girls lookin' to jump me!

Haha, great answer!!!!

Alenuska, Ah, very true. Someone getting the gun away from you is something to think about.
In most gun close-combat courses they will tell you to keep the gun close to your body rather than out like you'd see in a movie.

Yeah, both of my parents are very 'cautious' (well a caution that at times crosses the line to paranoia.) I try not to let it affect me, but its hard having been raised on the stories of all the things that could potentially happen. Though, I am trying to get out of that way of thinking and think more along the lines of: be aware of your surroundings but don't live in fear.

It is true that guns are over-hyped, especially in movies and most TV shows.
(I once heard about this gun fight in a bar where the two people were standing right across from each other, firing off every bullet in the gun, and neither even came close to hitting the other. Apparently they were trying to look 'gangsta' by firing the gun sideways. >_>)

My mom has one of those sword-canes.

So the general agreement seems to be that self defense courses are the way to go. Definently a good idea, because even if they get what ever weapon you have away from you can still fight...

I can't get sword canes shipped to this state usually.

Or any fun stuff, for that matter.

I was thinking about this as I was biking home from a friend's house at about 2am yesterday...

There is so small of a chance of me getting randomly attacked, abducted, or raped on the street that it is not something I really have to worry about. There's a much higher chance of me being robbed (and even that is small), so I don't think I'll ever really have to worry much about this. The worst thing that is at all likely happen is that I'll lose my iPod and $20... which would suck, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. I just think that it is silly to carry a knife around for something that is so unlikely to happen-- and even if I were armed, I'd rather just give up my purse than end up fighting and possibly getting harmed in the process.

I have a sword cane too. It has a dog's head handle but I can handle it like a foil or sabre. It has a real edge too!

^^ Oooo, it sounds really pretty Mine has a skull on it made from human bone

I honestly couldn't be trusted with any form of weapon as I tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Personal flaw but brought on by experience

Been chatting via Facebook recently with the organizer of The Sophie Lancaster Self Defence Class. The classes are currently available in the UK, but he's also interested in creating an international network of self-defense classes to help empower anyone who's been threatened for being outside the mainstream.

If anyone here knows of an instructor outside the UK who'd like to get involved in teaching these classes, please let him know via the site's contact info or via Facebook. Thanks!