Mom Voice
The best gift your mother ever gave you
At the beginning of every Pretty Deadly course we always ask the women who have signed up if they know the first rule of self defense. Every two out of three courses, someone will answer: “scream”.
While the voice can be weaponized in self defense, screaming is not always a response. Sometimes, it’s a reaction, and you have no control over it. In the event that I survived, I was apparently screaming loud enough to wake up three apartment buildings. But I lose my hearing when I go into shock, so I had no idea that I was screaming, and had no control over it. It’s great that my screaminghelped, but I didn’t even know I was doing it.
So we can’t always rely on screaming as a self defense tool.
For so long in women’s self-defense courses — as well as in women’s negotiation courses, self-esteem courses, empowerment courses, any kind of self-improvement courses — women have been encouraged to speak with a strong, confident voice; to speak up, be loud and proud. We are encouraged to use a forceful No!, including shouting “No!”, or “Stop!” in time with the strikes or kicks we’re using to defend ourselves.
