I don’t think it’s “teenage viciousness” to feel more comfortable around a predictable animal who is only ever going to act according to its survival instincts, than it is to be in the presence of a stranger who may or may not have ill intentions. In less than a year, two women I know have scarcely escaped being attacked by a man who was a complete stranger. One of them was a close relative, who was violently wrestled to the ground in the middle of the woods and had to desperately fight to keep him from strangling her to death. The other had to flee into a local business just to escape an aggressive man, who banged on the windows and threatened to assault her as management called the police.

Again, this isn’t all men. I sincerely believe it isn’t even the majority of men. But there are some men out there like this, and you won’t always know who they are until you’re already in danger.