Evolution altering women’s flight mode to fight mode

“See you tomorrow!” said a 21-year-old retail worker to her colleagues.  “DON’T BE LATE!” shouted the boss.

16/02/2009

It’s late.  It’s dark.  And it’s quite.  As she walks home – she has walked this route thousand times before and has memorised each and every shadow – she’s confident that her purse is safe.

Suddenly, a hand closes around her throat.  It takes less than a second for her brain to register that she’s under-attack.  There’s a knife and she can feel it pressing against her throat. 

As he grabs the purse and wrenches it off her left arm, he pushes her to the ground and starts running.  She takes off after him blind with panic and anger – the adrenalin urging her on.

This was not the reaction that he was expecting to elicit.  He is quick, but she’s closing in on him.

And suddenly he drops the purse hopping she’ll halt the chase.

As she picks up the purse, she wonders at her aggressive response and the superhero in her that she didn’t know she possessed.

The brave 21-year-old M&S employee from north London is a dear friend of mind and when I heard about her ordeal I felt shocked and surprised at the same time; I’m sure some of you may consider it unusual, after all it’s not often that a victim fights back when attacked by a chunky or sex offender.

That is said, stories of such an incident are more and more being reported on the mainstream media.  The message it seams to be delivering is this chunkies and rapers be alert women are switching from flight mode to fight mode.

So what induced this north <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />London woman to react such a way?

Well it’s impossible for one to know how one will respond in such a situation or explain one’s action afterwards for that matter.

The so called ‘fight or flight’ syndrome cannot be controlled by individuals; it’s rather an automatic physical reaction.  No individual can plan ahead of an attack.  So when fear kicks in this automatic device will make some people fight, some run and some just simply freeze.

Having said that – women have long been enduring late night street attacks – may be just may be evolution is altering women’s response into more of a fighting mode.

And there is absolutely no doubt that for the predators that commit such a crime, their greatest fears are getting caught and they’re totally unprepared for confrontations.