Rosalind Wiseman

I wish everyone could hve an instructor like Rosalind Wiseman.-Heidi Hsia, Ph.D., Director, Victim Services Division, Montgomery County, Maryland

Defending Ourselves offers a complete course in self-defense without requiring you to be a martial arts expert, or even to be in especially good physical shape. It also provides a refreshingly straightforward discussion of date rape and tells you what to do if you are physically assaulted, from going to the hospital to deciding whether to press charges. Defending Ourselves includes the advice of police, counselors, and legal experts, as well as he stories of a wide selection of women.

I loved this book! It is a must read for any woman who wants to be as prepared walking down the street as she is going for a job interview. Wiseman has heard young women around the country when we say 'I don't want to be afraid anymore.' With this book, we learn that we don't have to be, we can fight back and even win! With great simplicity and generosity, Wiseman gives us the tools we need to be the fierce, fearless women we are determined to become.-Rebecca Walker, co-founder, Third Wave

A balanced, no-nonsense book filled with important information for all men and women. It should be mandatory reading for all between the ages of 12 and 112! Wiseman's depth of understanding comes form personal experience but is translated for today's reader in an intelligent, balanced, and informative style.-Anne L. Bryant, Ed.D., Executive Director, American Association of University Women

Rosalind Wiseman, born in 1969, has a second-degree black belt in karate. She is the founder and director of Woman's Way, an organization that offers self-defense programs to high school and college students as well as adults in the Washington, D.C., area. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Contents

Preface
Introduction
1 Our stories heard
2 Entering the void: An introduction to self-defense
Body language
Verbal self-defense
Safety tips
Who is going to attack me?
3 Physical self-defense skills
Basic techniques
Practicing
Choosing a self-defense program
4 The date-rape debate: Fact or fiction?
Men and women discuss the issue
5 How to make the system work for you
The hospital
The police
The court
6 The long journey: The recovery process afer a rape
To the advocate, family, or significant other
Apendices:
1 Sexual-asssault crisis centers in the United States
2 Safety on campus
3 A note to parents reading this book… (meer)

Written for parents as a tool for understanding their daughters, Queen Bees offers insights from children and teens to supplement Wiseman's sound advice. Wiseman’s first job is to offer suggestions for what kind of guidance a mother can give her daughter surrounding all kinds of situations, usually related to peer to peer friendships and other critical relationships in a girl's life. Occasionally, she addresses the dads, too. More often than not, Wiseman will offer sample "scripts" of what to say in various situations. It is here that I found Wideman to be a little idealistic in more than a few places. See here: "Get inside her head and then you'll understand where she is coming from and how to help her" (p 8). That is like saying create world peace and you will end gun violence. Don't all parents want to know what is going on inside their child's head? Wouldn't knowing her true thoughts give parents at least some of the tools they need to help her? Additionally, some of the quotes from children seem a little suspect; a little too good to be true. Wiseman ignores the impact emotion has on an action. Sometimes logic is compromised by uncontrolled feeling; so much so that the right thing to say cannot come out. In truth, there are so many suggested dialogues that I found them a little tedious.… (meer)