How DARE you caution me!

If I advised that walking into a cow pasture with a bunch of bulls and waving your arms to incite a reaction is a bad idea, would anyone REALLY criticize me for doing so?

Apparently, the answer is yes:

An international series of protests known as SlutWalks, sparked by a Toronto police officer's flippant comment that women should avoid dressing like "sluts" to avoid being raped or victimized, is taking root in the United States.
In addition to Boston, marches are planned in cities including Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, Reno, Nevada, and Austin, Texas.
"The event is in protest of a culture that we think is too permissive when it comes to rape and sexual assault," said Siobhan Connors, 20, of Lynn, Massachusetts, another Boston organizer. "It's to bring awareness to the shame and degradation women still face for expressing their sexuality ... essentially for behaving in a healthy and sexual way."  ((I'm not sure I'd agree this is necessarily 'healthy' behavior...  Jemison))
SlutWalkers have danced to hip-hop, worn T-shirts with the word "slut" and held signs that read "sluts pay taxes." Some women have skated around on inline skates in lingerie, while their male supporters wore shirts reading, "I love sluts."

At this point, it's safe to say Western Civilization has descended into self-parody.  Apparently, the Civil Rights Movement won its struggle so that black people can now call each other "n-gger," and Women's Lib succeeded in creating an environment where young females can refer to themselves as "shoe whores" and proudly embrace (pun intended) the term "slut."

For the record: nobody deserves to called a racial epithet.  And no woman, no matter how she dresses, deserves to be raped.  What these protestors fail to realize is that this is beside the point.  Nobody deserves to be murdered, either, but if you go to the "wrong side of town" do you not increase the odds of that misfortune?  I fail to understand why it's wrong to warn young women that "putting it all on display" might attract the wrong kind of attention.  Yes, men should be able to control themselves.  But then, there shouldn't be war, or poverty, or theft, or a whole host of other evils, either.  The wise may seek to improve the world, but they also deal with it as it is.

The legacy of postmodern thought is a complete inability to admit that choices carry risks, and the intended outcome isn't always what one gets.  But to all those fired up enough by this officer's observation to take to the streets, all I can say is: go ahead, touch the stove.  Some people just have to learn the hard way.  Just don't say nobody advised you how to reduce the chances it would happen to you.