Every day is a school day. Until the Independent TD Matt Shanahan, from Waterford, tweeted about the importance of “situational awareness”, I had never heard of the phrase. Thank you very much, Mr Shanahan. Once you stop learning, you start dying, Einstein apparently once said.
Matt Shanahan used the phrase “situational awareness” in response to the following tweet from Claire McGing. “Had a terrifying experience in Blackrock Park today. I don’t know what would have happened if a woman didn’t walk by with her dogs. Called the gardaí to alert them and they were so kind but [it] angers me so much that a woman can’t walk in a public space without being harassed.”
Matt Shanahan's tweet – which, as many pointed out, was not very situationally aware – did contain one prescient element. For women and girls everywhere, 'situational awareness' is 'vital'
Many people responded to Claire McGing along the lines of “So sorry to hear that, Claire” and “That’s awful”. Matt Shanahan’s tweet began in a similar fashion: “Sorry to hear, Claire”. He continued, “I often see girls walking alone at night while on phones in places I wouldn’t like my 15-stone ripped nephew to be – situational awareness [is] vital and also should be taught. Sorry to hear this happened in what should be a safe space – not all men are monsters!”
Leaving aside the fact that Claire had this experience during the day rather than at night, and also leaving aside the fact that she had at no point suggested all men were monsters, Matt’s tweet – which, as many pointed out, was not itself very “situationally aware” – did contain one prescient element. For women and girls “situational awareness” is indeed “vital”.
Every day is a school day, so while thinking about Matt’s tweet I googled “situational awareness”. There was a good definition of it on the internet. “Being aware of what is happening around you in terms of where you are ... and whether anyone or anything around you is a threat to your health and safety.”
It confirmed my suspicion that I was, as most women and girls are, already an expert in “situational awareness”. Matt suggested it should be taught. The truth is that women and girls don’t need to be taught “situational awareness”. That would be like teaching fish how to swim or bunnies to hop. “Situational awareness” is our default mode, and we learn it quickly at the University of Situational Awareness, otherwise known as everyday life for women and girls.
At the University of Situational Awareness, basic modules include: the first time you are followed by a man; the first time a man exposes his genitals to you in public; and the first time you are groped in a nightclub or on public transport
At the University of Situational Awareness, aka existing in the world as a woman or girl, basic modules include: the first time you are followed by a man; the first time a man exposes his genitals to you in public; and the first time you are groped in a nightclub or on public transport. Additional learnings happen in compulsory lectures – nonattendance is out of the question – including but not limited to: when a man first shouts at you on the street; when a man tells you your body is not attractive enough; or when a man tells you your body is too attractive.
Every day is a school day. According to a recent newspaper report, at a school in Co Tipperary in December 2019, students were shown an anti-abortion video from the Life Network in Texas. It caused some sixth-year students at the Catholic school who watched it to break down in tears. According to the report, the video contained a variety of claims, including that women who have abortions are at high risk of developing breast cancer and that “the scalp of the aborted baby can be used to correct baldness”.
A complaint was made to the Teaching Council, but the investigation ended in June this year with a final ruling that it did not warrant a full disciplinary inquiry. You might think that girls could take a break at school from being “situationally aware”, but no. There are no breaks.
Every day really is a school day. A friend learned a new word, incel, after the recent mass shooting in Plymouth by Jake Davison, whose online videos contained references to that abhorrent online movement. I’d known the word for a couple of years, from reading articles and interviewing Laura Bates, the author of a book called Men Who Hate Women, for which she researched incel culture. In case you don’t know what an incel is, it stands for “involuntary celibate”.
In Afghanistan at the moment, women and girls are 'situationally aware' that the Taliban, the regimen of bearded men that has taken over the country, hates women and girls
Bates describes incels as men “who are not having sex and they want to be. They see women as completely commodified and dehumanised sex objects that are there purely for male sexual pleasure. And they blame women for the fact that they’re not having sex.” According to reports, the incel community numbers about 10,000 in the UK, with hundreds of thousands more worldwide.
Every day is a school day. Situational awareness is really important. Vital. Especially if you are a woman or girl. Morning, noon or night. In the pitch dark or in broad daylight. In a park or in your own home. For example, in Afghanistan at the moment, women and girls are "situationally aware" that the Taliban, the regimen of bearded men that has taken over the country, hates women and girls. Women and girls in Afghanistan are scared they won't be allowed out of their houses, or back into their jobs or to school and university. Scared of sexual slavery. Scared of being murdered. Scared.
From Kabul to Tipperary, women and girls could write a very long book on "situational awareness". Thank you, Matt Shanahan, for the reminder. Matt has since apologised "for any offence caused" by his tweet. Perhaps he, and the many others who appear to think it's more important to tell women and girls to be situationally aware than it is to tell men and boys and bearded tyrants to stop abusing and harassing women and girls, might have learned something from this too.
After all, every day is a school day.
roisin@irishtimes.com