It Was a Great Week for Women Supporting Women

We’ve reached the end of another long week. But before we clock out for the weekend, we’re giving props where they’re due. Here’s to our winners of the week.

What’s that? You think worry, concern, and caution are for scaredy-cats and overprotective moms? False! Having your guard up is smart, reasonable, and, for women, absolutely necessary. This week proved why.

First, Saoirse Ronan spawned a dozen think pieces after her comment about self-defense on The Graham Norton Show went viral. Host Norton and certified nice guys Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne were joking about how a phone might be used as a weapon in a fight, which is a perfectly fine thing to find funny, but what was truly hilarious was the stunned silence after Ronan pointed out, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.” Frankly, she was being kind to ask the audience, “Am I right, ladies?” and let the applause break the tension. (Denzel Washington was also there, but seemed ready to talk about other things.)

Saoirse Ronan on The Graham Norton Show on October 24

PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

If you think she’s overreacting or being hyperbolic, first of all, she was just being herself, and second, I urge you to remember that mere months ago, multiple young women reported being randomly punched in the face on the streets of New York City.

(FWIW, phones probably aren’t super-useful weapons, but if you find yourself grabbed from behind, you can employ the classic “SING” strategy made famous by Miss Congeniality—solar plexus, instep, nose, groin—and remember to use your elbows, like Gigi Hadid did when she was attacked at Milan Fashion Week in 2016.)

No but seriously, women have to watch out for themselves and others, like Ilona Maher did when getting a pedicure. The women who worked at her salon subtly asked the rugby player and Dancing with the Stars contestant to stay late by telling her that her polish hadn’t dried, when in reality, a man with a bad vibe had entered the business and they knew Maher would keep them safe.

She was more than up to the challenge, brushing the creep off in the parking lot and telling her Instagram followers that, should they encounter a similar situation in the future, “You can keep me for as long as you want. I’ll cancel my plans if you want me for safety.”

Marvel has the Avengers. DC has the Justice League. In real life, we have Women.

And the Female Safety Network extends to menfolk. A clip recorded at a recent InStyle event shows John Mulaney gently roasting his wife Olivia Munn for her texts advising him of various threats out in the world like “crazy cars” and monkeypox. Except it doesn’t really come across as ha-ha funny, more gently humorous and very loving. She wants her husband and father of her two children to not die, is that so strange?

Also, Olivia is right! You do have to be really careful driving in LA because the oil does collect on the streets. It’s like a known thing.

Thank the Careful Cathys and Prepared Pamelas in your life today. We’d be nowhere without them.