I know I usually blog about

silly little things like Thin Mint cookies and crappy '80s dance musicals, but I have something SERIOUS I want to say.

I'm sick and tired of the media using fear tactics to make a quick buck or reel in a potential viewer. I especially hate the way the media targets the fears in women!

In the last few years, I can't open a magazine without seeing an article about how to avoid being a target for rape, abuse, or inadequate daycare for your children. And honestly, I am the first person to support the education of women, but all of this is getting out of hand. I'll never forget an article I read about three years ago that cautioned women against ever wearing overalls because one convicted rapist confessed that he would specifically target women wearing overalls. Another article urged women to be especially cautious when leaving the gym, because rapists lurk in gym parking lots waiting for exhausted women to come out of spinning classes. I'm not trying to be funny. This stuff may be useful information to tuck away in your mind, but why should women be terrified as they go about day-to-day activities? Yes, women should be smart when making decisions, but fearfulness should not be a way of life.

Now it seems like the big issue is infidelity. Just a few nights ago, a news segment featured a private investigator as he tailed a cheating husband. The segment posed the question, "What are tell-tale signs that your significant other is cheating?" but the underlying message felt like, "When will your husband cheat on you, you naive female?" Add this to the countless articles and books on the subject, and they all seem to say, "Look, face it. Men cheat. They're just made that way. You might as well be ready so you won't be the fool."
I'm sorry, but I just DON'T accept that. While yes, many men, and WOMEN I might add, are unfaithful, I don't believe that all men are designed that way!

So why should the media program women to distrust and doubt based on fear?
It's sick and wrong. And I'm tired of it.