OUR SAY: The book every woman should read

If there's one book every woman should read, this is it.

YEARS ago a very dear friend of mine gave me a book titled The Gift of Fear.

It's a book every woman should read.

Yesterday I read a story on the popular website Mamamia about a woman who was accosted by a man while she was shopping.

He wanted her to help pick out a gift for his mother.

When that wouldn't work, he offered to pick out a gift for her.

Then when this woman still said no, he started aggressively demanding her phone number.

Throughout this whole exchange, the man refused to hear the word no.

And, socially conditioned to be polite like almost all women are, this woman felt she couldn't be rude or stern enough to make him go away.

Boy, do I sympathise with that feeling.

Most women are socialised to be pleasing and nice.

It's very hard to say the word "no" without providing some justification for it.

And that's where The Gift of Fear comes in.

This book is about trusting your survival instincts and remembering that no is a full sentence.

If someone refuses to hear the word, then that is a massive red flag.