It was almost two weeks ago that Speaker Christine Quinn held her first free self-defense class in Central Park. This event was in response to an increased number of sexual assaults on women in the city, most notably an incident involving the rape of a 73-year-old woman in Central Park.

While free self-defense classes are great, and the fact that the local government is taking steps to intervene is commendable, what does all of this really serve to accomplish? Not much. One or two classes are hardly going to educate all of New York. Furthermore, it doesn’t even touch on the real problem: the attackers themselves. Sexual assaults play a larger part in more people’s daily lives than most people realize.

Blogs like “Who Needs Feminism” and “Project Unbreakable” have new women, and men, submitting their personal stories of assault and survival on a daily basis. These sites create a safe place for victims and survivors to speak out about what has happened to them. Whether it’s something as simple as an inappropriate catcall or something as violent as a rape, sexual assaults are taking place far too frequently.

Making a community for survivors, either online or in self-defense classes, is a strong platform for change, but it is only the foundation for it. The internet provides a voice for survivors and victims of sexual-assault crimes in a way that has never been done before. Speaking out in a safe and unthreatened way is often the first step to healing, but it also serves to raise awareness about these sorts of crimes. This awareness then hopefully helps educate potential victims and attackers on how wrong this behavior is to accept and inflict. Being vocal and raising awareness is a good step in educating a new generation on respectful and appropriate behavior.

However, speaking out against attacks is part of the aftermath of an assault and not a part of uprooting the original problem—the attacks themselves.

On the other end of the spectrum, self-defense classes can be a great precautionary measure to an assault. But again this is something being done to help protect a would-be victim from an assault; and so works under the assumption of there being an assault. Neither self-defense nor speaking out on an attack manages to directly address or change the actual problem, which is: the initial assault and assaulter. Both tactics focus on preparing women, and potential victims, for a problem instead of working on stopping the problem.

The heart of the problem is that attackers think they can attack women and get away with it. To truly address this issue would require recalibrating our thinking as a community. The focus should not be on protecting victims, but on preventing there even being victims. For there to be any real, significant and lasting change, the community’s focus needs to move from the victim to the attacker. Educating survivors and potential victims on how to protect themselves is a great start, but that’s all it is—a start. Actual change will come with educating and, in turn, preventing would-be attackers, but this is, undeniably, a much bigger and more difficult issue to tackle.

Hot Pink pepper spray

By Rebecca Hoffman

Pink dresses, pink razors, pink tasers. Oh my! It’s every woman’s dream come true. Now she can defend herself and look feminine at the same time. Because nothing says, “Get back,” like a cute hot pink can of pepper spray.

Self-defense is no longer only a precaution, but increasingly a fashion statement too. Markets target women with girly pink tasers, stun guns, and pepper sprays. Though miniaturizing these items might serve some practical purpose decorating them only belittles the seriousness they imply.

Self-defense isn’t about looking cute, or having the hottest lipstick stun gun in several classy colors, or concealing perfume pepper spray in a limited-time pink camouflage pouch. This type of marketing only serves to demean women and their reasons for wanting a weapon in the first place.

These dainty, though arguably powerful, weapons make a mockery of women seeking protection when, the truth is, women’s safety is still an issue. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey one out of five women reports being involved in some form of sexual assault. A woman’s personal safety isn’t a joke, though it is, admittedly, hard to take it seriously when confronted with female safety mascots like Pinky Sparkadero.

Pinky, a hot pink robot that wears a pink mini skirt and crop top, is a character on the blog DefendThyself.com who presents the best in “girl-themed” self-defense products. While sporting lip-gloss and a six-pack, Pinky looks anything but serious. She’s girly, but macho, and, on top of that, she’s not even real: she’s a robot, a fantasy, and a joke. Though well intentioned, Pinky sounds about as foolish as she looks.

She says things like, “I may be pink and girly, but don’t let my appearance fool you, I can bring a big, strong man to his knees! There is no thrill greater than blasting a Punk in the face with hot pepper spray. They may even cry like a little girl!”

Not only does she degrade women by portraying men as being more powerful, but she also uses the comparison to a girl as an insult. Her entire attitude serves to raise men and defame women.

Carrying a weapon is about creating a sense of security and control. It’s a serious affair and should be marketed as such; not dumbed down and accessorized. Women aren’t children and these items aren’t toys, portraying them in this light sends the wrong message to attackers and women alike. The gimmicks and pink dye depict women as weak and girly when the affect should be the opposite. Carrying a weapon should make a woman feel safe and empowered, not trendy.

It be nice to argue that these types of items are irrelevant, bedazzled or not, but sadly, in a big city like New York, that isn’t the case. Whether its knowing not to leave drinks unattended or learning krav maga, knowing how to defend oneself is important. Carrying pepper spray may be a smart preemptive move on a woman’s part, but dying it pink isn’t helpful to anyone.