I wrote this piece after familiarizing myself with the #NotAllMen movement online. This really struck me, as I know that having scary experiences myself, I tend to frequently generalize people in fear when I am alone. It is not all men, but there are men. I hope this piece finds you well, whether you understand it or learn from it.
***This piece talks about sexual assault.
Not all men are a threat. My father is a good, true man. He loves and protects and teaches. He is the first person to step up. I remember him finding a young woman in the ditch with a totaled car in the middle of Winter. She was terrified, but so was he. So grateful to see a helping hand, she screamed out her name and where she lived so he could get help. He helped her out of her car, and called for someone to come pick her up. But with three daughters at home, he looked at her with piercing eyes and said, “never, ever, tell a stranger who you are.” Not all men, but some. He came home and sat the three girls down, teaching us to never do that if we’re in that scenario. 12 years old, I was confused. I didn’t know any men that had ever harmed me. My dad had always helped the person on the street in need. It was not two weeks later that I met a man that my father feared I would. Not all men, but how do we differentiate? I told my dad in tears about the man in the school parking lot. His hands shaking, he cried with me. I started feeling scared of strangers for the first time in my life. I turned my smiling face from all of them, just to be safe. Not all men, but there was more than I realized. I was only twelve. Again, when I was thirteen. I was only fourteen. But the ones we should fear don’t really care about that. I stopped calling my dad when it happened, because I wanted to protect his heart. I was far from him. But then again, was it just that I was used to stranger’s hands? Not all men, but a lot of men. I once heard that we know all wasps aren’t out to sting us, but we still fear a swarm of them. I understand that wholeheartedly. And I will never truly believe that all men are bad. I get to know good men, and I am loved by even better men. But please remember that when you are unfairly judged though you are a bumblebee, She has been stung by a swarm of wasps.
Kara Allen is a CSU Public Relations Assistant and is currently a Senior studying Communications at Minnesota State Mankato. Kara is from Grand Rapids, MN and has grown up loving to write in her free time; finding the hidden idiosyncrasies within herself through the writing. She plans on pursuing a career in Public Affairs for the U.S. Army and continuing on with writing for enjoyment.
