Honestly, with the amount of false alarms (I've researched this for my PD), if you want to prevent a break-in, you're just as safe as having an alarm sign on your property - it's the sign that deters most (residential) burglars. Although even with businesses, the false alarm rate is quite high and a lot of police departments waste a lot of time responding to false alarms.
I was 14 and babysitting a two year old who did a runner while I was changing him. The door slammed closed behind me, but clever girl that I am, I managed to climb in a window with the naked two year old. Feeling quite proud of myself for getting back in the house, I went back to changing the kid until their was a knock on the door (small town, police come fast). The obviously very bored police were annoyed that I didn't have any id, being 14 and all. The finally decided I wasn't a teenage mother burglar when I suggested we go to my mom's house 2 blocks away so she could vouch for me.
And the family never had me babysit again. #sarahhaskins
A woman in LA was just murdered by an abusive boyfriend while the police were outside investigating the domestic violence call she put in to them. They witnessed the stabbing through the window, and were able to shoot and kill her attacker. Of course, she still died.
So, no, women are not safe anywhere, and I'm not sure a call from Rick with Broadview is really going to deter a stalker/violent ex or acquaintance.
Alarms may, however, deter burglars. But instead of portraying that, these ads just play on our fear of men, even though I really doubt they help to deter violent men. #sarahhaskins
@GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11): The people who make these ads aren't really trying to portray an accurate image of what happens when your house gets broken into, like you said. They are counting on women who have been assaulted, raped, beaten, mugged, etc, before to see the ads and be scared into buying an alarm for a sense of false security in case their attacker/rapist/what have you returns. Honestly, when I think of ways that someone could break into my house to try and rape me or kill me, for whatever reason, I think of them silently coming in through an unlocked window, and trying to find an unlocked door. Not fully kicking my front door down, alerting me and my security system that I'm about to be raped/killed. I hate these ads. Why don't they ever show some dude alone at night in his bed, and then the front door gets kicked in and the alarm goes off? Women aren't the only ones who are targeted for these types of crimes. And why don't they ever show a criminal trying to silently come into your house, I don't know, maybe just to steal all your shit? Ughh. #sarahhaskins
Y'all, here's a security measure I've taken recently that had never before crossed my mind and I thought I would share:
I have a garage door opener for my parents' house when I visit. Now, when I go inside, I take the opener with me – the neighborhood has had a sudden spree of people smashing the windows of cars parked in driveways and then using the openers to get into the garage/house. #sarahhaskins
Not only is AJ the creepy date way likelier to drug your drink than he is to kick your door in, I heard on like NPR or PBS (because let's face it, I get almost all my info from one of those two) about what a cost these alarm systems are to taxpayers. Every time the alarm goes off and police or fire people have to respond, it costs the taxpayers money, and most of the things they have to respond to with these alarms are false alarms.
Onto the general idea of being a woman and never being safe: that's so where I'm at this week. I've heard of four assaults on my campus in the last 2 weeks, on the dark streets I walk daily. I'm really freaked out and had a breakdown in a parking garage Wednesday night. All the school seems to say is "be vigilant." As if we women are ever NOT effing vigilant. I'm always vigilant. Being vigilant is exhausting. #sarahhaskins
@funnyface: Amen to that. I remember trying to explain to my boyfriend why I needed him to go with me to the grocery store after dark, or else just call in pizza for dinner. It never occured to him that there would be any problem walking around alone after dark in our cute little beachside village -- he does it all the time -- and he thought I was just being lazy and not wanting to go shop.
But then again, rape statistics don't usually apply to him. #sarahhaskins
@funnyface: I know what you mean. I just got a security bar installed on my bedroon window. Theres a rapist in my area that has been sneaking through women's bedroom windows or forcing their way through the door after the woman opens them. My parent's friend has a gun license and he bought me some (illegal for me to possess) pepper spray for when I walk the dark alley from campus back to my home. I can't believe that I even feel the need to do this, but I'd rather take the risk of getting in trouble with the law for assaulting someone with my illegal pepper spray than getting raped. #sarahhaskins
@funnyface: "Being vigilant is exhausting." Totally agree with you there. The other day I refused to walk down a dark creepy street; I was with my husband. I am just so conditioned to be on guard all the time...
and it pisses me off that I can walk anywhere I want, as long as I have a "big strong" man by my side. #sarahhaskins
@elvy: I feel ya. My boss has offered to give me rides so I don't have to walk to the parking deck in the dark ever again, but it pisses me off that I would NEED that. The fact that society is so stacked against women thus that we always have to wonder if we're safe pisses me off. #sarahhaskins
Oh, and Brinks/ Broadview-- the "known attacker" commercials are really annoying.
The times my stalker ex-boyfriend got his hands on me, they didn't involve him breaking down the door. He got me in the parking lot, at my place of work, and then was sitting on my bed after convincing my apartment complex to give him a key.
Your loud alarm and phone call would not have helped me so stop playing to people's fears. #sarahhaskins
@curiousgeorgiana: i don't know how to private message people so i'm just writing it here: i seriously just want to bake you a cake (unless you're team pie, boohiss!) and hug you. you're my hero CG. #sarahhaskins
@huls: Scroll all the way up to the top of the page and you should see your user name-- click on it and then the tab "Messages". There will be one from me ;o) #sarahhaskins
I have Broadview security. The last time I accidentally set it off, it took a good 10 minutes for them to call and then I forgot my secret password so then another 15 minutes later the police showed up. A.J. would have had enough time to make a skin suit out of me. With zippers. #sarahhaskins
Worse still was the Kay's commercial last night: Women is afraid of the thunderstorm (yes, a thunderstorm). Man will protect her. And give her pretty necklace.
@curiousgeorgiana: No, my fear of loud noises and bright lights is greater. I would knock him down to get AWAY from the window and under the covers in bed with earphones on. #sarahhaskins
@curiousgeorgiana: Did you not get a creepy vibe from that ad? The bf and I kept waiting for it to turn into a horror movie preview. It definitely doesn't make me want their diamonds
I'm a little bitter because I wrote about these ads on my blog a few weeks ago, but I'm also happy that I'm not the only one driven up the wall by them. #sarahhaskins
WHOA! Did you see that lady jump off the treadmill MID-RUN at 2:38?? I get dizzy and fall down when the treadmill is off! How the hell did she do that? #sarahhaskins
@rodmanstreet: I get dizzy and fall down at the mere thought of getting on a treadmill, so you're still way ahead of me, Rodman. But I am safe from baddies who come after treadmill-jumping ladies, which is an enormous relief. #sarahhaskins
I really like how the attackers in all of these commercials are able to kick in the front door with a single thrust. Perhaps you should skip the security system and invest in a door that actually locks and is not made out of cork board. #sarahhaskins
@colormeroutine: Once a drunk homeless man tried to kick down my kitchen door, and/or the window next to it and couldn't manage to break either. He finally gave up after about 10 minutes and WAVED goodbye to me as he left, just as the police arrived. Take that, Broadview. #sarahhaskins
@colormeroutine: I know, it's bad enough that these ladies are going to be murdered but also now their surviving relatives are going to have to replace the doorframe, that shit is expensive. #sarahhaskins
@colormeroutine: Most residential lock systems are only screwed into, at best, a quarter-inch piece of trim around the door. Doors are extremely easy to kick in. For security (in addition to upgrading your lock), you need to use three-inch decking screws so that your lock is firmly fastened to the studs. Same with the hinges. #sarahhaskins
@Cairn: Seriously? That's really surprising to me. Every place I have ever lived in has had some SERIOUSLY heavy-duty doors. Usually double doors as well. Same for most of my friend's homes. But then, I've always lived in NYC #sarahhaskins
@Cairn: This is true. Safety-wise, they almost have to be somewhat easy. My upstairs neighbor left food in his oven and went out for the night. It caught on fire, setting off alarms. The fire department had his door kicked in right away and put the fire out. Thank God. #sarahhaskins
@colormeroutine: If you have some spare time, take out the screws from your strikeplate (the metal piece in the doorjamb) that the tongue of the lock hits. Mine were about an inch long. And, there are only two of them! That's all that's holding the door "locked". Two short screws against a good hard kick? I think not.
But, if you've got a good steel door with a steel jamb, then you're good to go. #sarahhaskins
From the National Coalition of Men: "Pop singer Rihanna recently made a widely publicized statement to Glamour Magazine that she wants to "shed light on the reality of domestic violence." The National Coalition For Men (NCFM) calls on Rihanna to discuss her own reported violence against Brown as well if she wants to shed light on the problem honestly.
According to court records and other sources, Rihanna struck Brown in the face "numerous times" before Brown assaulted her. NCFM purports although that would not justify his more severe assault, her violence should not be ignored, and if she does not "woman up" to it then her message will be the usual one-sided double standards that leave female perpetration covered up.
The saying, "There is no excuse for domestic violence," applies to both sexes. Female violence in relationships is not rare but is often hypocritically deemed acceptable or humorous, such as in the film, Sideways. It is part of the cycle of domestic violence, which cannot be stopped without addressing the problem honestly. Children are damaged just by witnessing domestic violence, regardless of its severity. A 32-nation study by the University of New Hampshire found women are as violent and as controlling as men in relationships worldwide #rihannainterview
Having been in toxic relationships, I can understand how hard it must be for Rihanna to express hate for someone she loves. Much like grief, she will continue an ever-evolving process. Today, she may still love him and wish him well. Tomorrow, she may pity him or even hate him. Eventually, she may even be indifferent to him. I don't think she needs to put this behind her as much as to move forward stronger and more aware.
I wish Rihanna well and I hope she's on her way to having a great life. #rihannainterview
I once heard her say something in an interview that always stuck with me. It was a couple of years ago and someone asked her if she and Chris were dating. At the time their relationship was on the DL so she tried to laugh it off and when the interviewer persisted she said that he was her best best friend and she loved him like a brother and they had only recently become involved. The reason she gave was that she needed him around because she was stuck in a business where she was with old people all the time (she was 19 then, he was 18) and he was the only person she had in her life with whom she felt like she was allowed to act her age, to be herself, to just be Robyn (her real name), instead of the persona "Rihanna." I remember the interview because the quote always struck me as sad and lonely and somewhat displaced. As someone who left home to come to the U.S as a teenager under far less demanding circumstances (college) it really resonated with me and a thought suddenly hit me that she was kind of like a teenage immigrant of sorts--someone who had left her small country to seek fame, was mostly alone here, surrounded by scant or no family, spending all her days with people she worked with or people who worked for her.
To be clear, I think Chris Brown is a piece of horseshit who has yet to take full responsibility and I loathe the fact that the public might use this interview to absolve him. Moreover, i've never been hit by a lover before so I am aware of the fact that I lack a visceral understanding about her experience in that sense. But what I have experienced before is being in love with someone I considered my best friend, and being in a relationship with them in a place and a time when I felt like I had no one else, no one else who "got" me, no one else who knew what I was going through, no one else who I could fundamentally relate to. That creates a dependency that makes you love a person without reason I think, because you not only find love in them, you create home in them. You make them your safe place.
It's a dependency that doesn't end when the relationship ends. Instead it creates a cognitive dissonance where after the breakup you have to make them a good person who did bad things as opposed to a bad person who you were tricked into believing was good or a bad person with good moments, because at the time when your relationship with them ends you feel like you have not only lost a lover you have lost something akin to a family member. And no one wants to admit that there are bad genes in their family. No one wants to admit that they loved someone so dark and so damaged. Because, their secret fear is, then it hints at or suggests some possible damage or deep sense of worthlessness in they themselves. It's a deeper thing, I think, than even the feeling of embarrassment she mentions. What she is dealing with a deep sense of shame that someone she consistently considered the foremost person in her life thought little enough of her overall, and so little of her in that moment, that he was willing to hurt her so badly.
When someone is your "best friend" in your mind--not just your boyfriend, or your lover but your best friend-- it's almost like you revert back to class one (first grade) honor codes. You find a way to take some responsibility for the person's actions because you think of yourselves as a unit. You proclaim your allegiance to them publicly. You don't pick someone else at the swings. Most importantly, you protect them from "bullies" or "enemies". You don't let anyone be mean to them. You've done it for so long that it's almost instinctive. Speaking badly about them publicly feels like tattle-taling. And no one wants to be a tattletale on their friend.
She is struggling so hard with that part of the loyalty code you can see the strain on her face. Add to it the other loyalty code: the historical tenet of "black people don't wash their dirty laundry in front of white people" thing, that black women don't rat out black men, that black women stand by their people and don't embarass the race in front of white folks, that no one likes snitches etc etc etc .... and you can see that the girl is doing the best she can. I am surprised she is even able to do this much considering the kind of emotional stuff she is up against. #rihannainterview
11/13/09
Also: Sarah Haskins fucking rules. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
I was 14 and babysitting a two year old who did a runner while I was changing him. The door slammed closed behind me, but clever girl that I am, I managed to climb in a window with the naked two year old. Feeling quite proud of myself for getting back in the house, I went back to changing the kid until their was a knock on the door (small town, police come fast). The obviously very bored police were annoyed that I didn't have any id, being 14 and all. The finally decided I wasn't a teenage mother burglar when I suggested we go to my mom's house 2 blocks away so she could vouch for me.
And the family never had me babysit again. #sarahhaskins
11/14/09
11/13/09
So, no, women are not safe anywhere, and I'm not sure a call from Rick with Broadview is really going to deter a stalker/violent ex or acquaintance.
Alarms may, however, deter burglars. But instead of portraying that, these ads just play on our fear of men, even though I really doubt they help to deter violent men. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
don't even get me started on her 'university of looking like a caucasian burglar'
11/13/09
Scruffy half-beard? Check. Hoodie? Check. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
I have a garage door opener for my parents' house when I visit. Now, when I go inside, I take the opener with me – the neighborhood has had a sudden spree of people smashing the windows of cars parked in driveways and then using the openers to get into the garage/house. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
Onto the general idea of being a woman and never being safe: that's so where I'm at this week. I've heard of four assaults on my campus in the last 2 weeks, on the dark streets I walk daily. I'm really freaked out and had a breakdown in a parking garage Wednesday night. All the school seems to say is "be vigilant." As if we women are ever NOT effing vigilant. I'm always vigilant. Being vigilant is exhausting. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
But then again, rape statistics don't usually apply to him. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
and it pisses me off that I can walk anywhere I want, as long as I have a "big strong" man by my side. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
The times my stalker ex-boyfriend got his hands on me, they didn't involve him breaking down the door. He got me in the parking lot, at my place of work, and then was sitting on my bed after convincing my apartment complex to give him a key.
Your loud alarm and phone call would not have helped me so stop playing to people's fears. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
Worse still was the Kay's commercial last night: Women is afraid of the thunderstorm (yes, a thunderstorm). Man will protect her. And give her pretty necklace.
[www.kay.com] #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
She reacts to that storm like a nervous puppy, and only the power of his manly diamond arms can quell her lady fears. #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
Manipulate the patriarchy to your advantage, ladies!
/culturesnark #sarahhaskins
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
But, if you've got a good steel door with a steel jamb, then you're good to go. #sarahhaskins
11/06/09
According to court records and other sources, Rihanna struck Brown in the face "numerous times" before Brown assaulted her. NCFM purports although that would not justify his more severe assault, her violence should not be ignored, and if she does not "woman up" to it then her message will be the usual one-sided double standards that leave female perpetration covered up.
The saying, "There is no excuse for domestic violence," applies to both sexes. Female violence in relationships is not rare but is often hypocritically deemed acceptable or humorous, such as in the film, Sideways. It is part of the cycle of domestic violence, which cannot be stopped without addressing the problem honestly. Children are damaged just by witnessing domestic violence, regardless of its severity. A 32-nation study by the University of New Hampshire found women are as violent and as controlling as men in relationships worldwide #rihannainterview
11/06/09
I wish Rihanna well and I hope she's on her way to having a great life. #rihannainterview
11/06/09
To be clear, I think Chris Brown is a piece of horseshit who has yet to take full responsibility and I loathe the fact that the public might use this interview to absolve him. Moreover, i've never been hit by a lover before so I am aware of the fact that I lack a visceral understanding about her experience in that sense. But what I have experienced before is being in love with someone I considered my best friend, and being in a relationship with them in a place and a time when I felt like I had no one else, no one else who "got" me, no one else who knew what I was going through, no one else who I could fundamentally relate to. That creates a dependency that makes you love a person without reason I think, because you not only find love in them, you create home in them. You make them your safe place.
It's a dependency that doesn't end when the relationship ends. Instead it creates a cognitive dissonance where after the breakup you have to make them a good person who did bad things as opposed to a bad person who you were tricked into believing was good or a bad person with good moments, because at the time when your relationship with them ends you feel like you have not only lost a lover you have lost something akin to a family member. And no one wants to admit that there are bad genes in their family. No one wants to admit that they loved someone so dark and so damaged. Because, their secret fear is, then it hints at or suggests some possible damage or deep sense of worthlessness in they themselves. It's a deeper thing, I think, than even the feeling of embarrassment she mentions. What she is dealing with a deep sense of shame that someone she consistently considered the foremost person in her life thought little enough of her overall, and so little of her in that moment, that he was willing to hurt her so badly.
When someone is your "best friend" in your mind--not just your boyfriend, or your lover but your best friend-- it's almost like you revert back to class one (first grade) honor codes. You find a way to take some responsibility for the person's actions because you think of yourselves as a unit. You proclaim your allegiance to them publicly. You don't pick someone else at the swings. Most importantly, you protect them from "bullies" or "enemies". You don't let anyone be mean to them. You've done it for so long that it's almost instinctive. Speaking badly about them publicly feels like tattle-taling. And no one wants to be a tattletale on their friend.
She is struggling so hard with that part of the loyalty code you can see the strain on her face. Add to it the other loyalty code: the historical tenet of "black people don't wash their dirty laundry in front of white people" thing, that black women don't rat out black men, that black women stand by their people and don't embarass the race in front of white folks, that no one likes snitches etc etc etc .... and you can see that the girl is doing the best she can. I am surprised she is even able to do this much considering the kind of emotional stuff she is up against. #rihannainterview
11/07/09