"It's then the man next to you turns to you. And as if from inside your own head you agree that if anyone asks you to move, you'll tell them we are traveling as a family." (Rankine, 133)
This sentence in Citizen, by Claudia Rankine, follows a passage about an experience Rankine had while riding the train. In the passage, she attempts to protect this man by associating with him, by sitting next to him on the train she'll silently show that he is not something to be feared.
This experience of solidarity on trains can be compared to female solidarity on trains. While in this case, Rankine sits by the man to protect him from the judging gaze of others. Women on the train oftentimes sit by each other to protect each other from predators. Every time I get on the train by myself, my mom tells me to find a nice looking adult woman to sit by, and to avoid creepy looking guys. This is a silent defense mechanism, living out safety in numbers. You are less likely to be preyed on if you have someone who might protect you.
I totally agree with you in that there are times where we need to find someone we can trust to sit next to while in public transportation in order to reduce the risk of being harmed. Although I agree in what your mother said about sitting next to an adult women, I sometimes think that it is also a good idea to sit next to an adult man who does not look suspicious, since they may sometimes look more intimidating to some people.
ReplyDeleteI like the connection you are making here, but while women sitting next to each other is for protection/ to help against getting preyed on, Rankine sitting next to the man is more of a psychological protection for them both. While I think Rankine protecting the man by saying they are a family does make the man feel more comfortable, I do not think it will protect either of them any, for it will not make much of a difference to the person who made the comment to the man.
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