Mieric said:
Because that experience made me freakin paranoid.
And therefore, you assume that it's likely that women will be like that. Otherwise you'd simply realize that your friend managed to date a bad egg.
Mieric said:
While slander and a ruined reputation can be serious things .... POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CHARGES, JAIL TIME, AND BEING LISTED IN THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY are on a whole different level of seriousness.
I've known a situation where a guy tried to slander another guy by accusing him of molestation, and actually had it do some damage. Barring women doesn't save you from that possibility.
Mieric said:
While your philosophy of "Judge everyone on an individual basis, not on blanket terms of gender or other factors" would be nice in a utopia - I can't help but view it as impractical and unrealistic given the events I've both lived through and witnessed.
And based on what I've lived through and witnessed, I find that making blanket judgements does absolutely *jack* to actually make you safer. It just gives false security at the cost of cutting yourself off from something.
There are bad people out there. I've met them, I've dealt with them. I've seen people get hurt by them and been hurt by them myself. And the simple and sad fact is, you *can't* tell whether a person is good or bad just by their gender, race, religion, nationality, etc. You *can't* reliably make yourself safer just by excluding a specific demographic from your presence and calling it a day.
Judging everyone on an individual basis is not utopic... it is simply the only thing you can do. Blanket judgements do nothing but buy an artificial sense of security, because there are no universal indicators.
I've known people from many walks of life, races, nations, and religions. And in the end... it's each individual person that's the only thing you can really rely on judging. Sorry to crush any illusions.
Peace & Luv, Liz