# Women letting men "fight our battles" for us... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 9, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673 "2015-07-09T17:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/41 "2015-07-10T02:08:46Z")
My pretty little French girl is Suzette ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/42 "2015-07-10T02:12:24Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Many people have died from a single punch to the head. If that’s a risk you want to take, fine, but allowing yourself to get punched is neither quality conflict resolution nor self-preservation. Yeah, but I’m not going to spend much time worrying about it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/43 "2015-07-10T02:53:00Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I call him Paul! I remember. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/44 "2015-07-10T03:04:47Z")
If some guy is threatening me in the presence of my husband, and he didn’t step up to defend me… I just can’t even imagine that scenario. It wouldn’t happen. He’s got 40 lbs of muscle on me, and actual experience in physical fighting. I’m pretty tough for a 5’ 2" woman, but I’d appreciate any help I could get if some dude threatened me. If my husband just watched while I handled it myself, there would be words. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/45 "2015-07-10T04:07:41Z")
As a self defense matter, third party intervention can be a good thing. I was once in a verbal altercation with a cable guy outside of my apartment. I know: weird. I had successfully positioned my bicycle between myself and him (shorter than me but also some 80 pounds heavier). Suddenly my (female) upstairs neighbor yells out of her window: “Don’t mess with MfM: he’s a good guy!” Or something like that. The prospect of a witness cooled him off a little. She later told me she thought there would be a fight. Huh: I’m glad it wasn’t just my imagination. Provided the priority is deescalation, I’d say third party defense is desirable. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/46 "2015-07-10T05:08:28Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Provided the priority is deescalation, I’d say third party defense is desirable. “Two were having a fight and a third got beaten up.” But that’s more likely to happen when the third gets physically in the middle spouting platitudes; amazing how often an onlooker yelling “hey!” is effective, while someone trying to insert himself between the two people will get hurt. I don’t go through life expecting knights in shinning armor to defend me (or even knights in beat-up armor, you know, the ones who actually get in fights), but there have been two times that someone was physically attacking me and other people grabbed them and took them away - and at those times, it doesn’t matter who the person being attacked is, what’s important is breaking it up before anybody gets hurt. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/47 "2015-07-10T14:54:52Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think regardless of what anyone else does, I’d want to see other people if any girl I dated acted like that. I quickly came to the same conclusion. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/48 "2015-07-10T20:12:24Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Interesting that some stories have terminology in common: don’t hurt “my wife.” I can see how this might upset some people, in that is has overtones of men’s control/“ownership” over women. Do what you want to the girl, just leave me alone! Better? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/49 "2015-07-11T00:44:10Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > I will allow no one to harass my wife. Raise a hand to her and you are holding your life in that hand. My wife is a great beauty and the most wonderful woman in the world in my eyes, but objectively, she is a rather shy, attractive sixty three year old lady. you assault her at your peril. > > I am not some young, muscular MMA fighter. I am a short and rather chunky little old man. If you hit my wife, I WILL shoot you. ↑ ↑ ↑ This is why young thugs need to be careful with old guys. Bawahahaha Ain’t going to bother with no fisty cuffs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/50 "2015-07-11T02:51:35Z")
GusNSpot: I am too young to die and too old to take a beating. That is why I carry. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673/51 "2015-07-13T03:16:46Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > “Two were having a fight and a third got beaten up.” But that’s more likely to happen when the third gets physically in the middle spouting platitudes; amazing how often an onlooker yelling “hey!” is effective, while someone trying to insert himself between the two people will get hurt. FWIW, a friend who took a self defense class reported that they recommend that third party strangers recruit another person, as getting caught in the middle is a real risk. Physically confront a man beating on a woman and you can get a surprise attack from the victim for example. You recruit not by saying something to a crowd but by making a personal appeal to one person at a time. Interestingly, recruiting a female isn’t necessarily a bad idea as she is less apt to be confrontational. I’d be inclined to keep my distance, look for cover, and ostentatiously call the cops. Admittedly, I’ve never exactly done that, though I have tried to verbally calm down certain situations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-letting-men-fight-our-battles-for-us/724673.md?page=2)