No, I don't think that, and wouldn't want to imply that. But the first message in this thread started with "...and this is from Women!" so I thought the general intent of the thread was "how can women think this?" and that was what I was responding to.

Sorry, I haven't read all the 700+ intervening messages. I suppose the topic could have drifted somewhat.

Frankly, I didn't even notice that there were 700+ messages. I just read the first few and skipped to the end. If I had noticed that there were 700+ messages, I'm sure I wouldn't have bothered to post at all. I've found that in long threads like that, the chance that anyone will respond to my messages is practically nil.

So I'm pleasantly surprised that you did, Kat.

By the way, I picked up that bit of wisdom—that self-blaming is a defense against fear—in a workshop I once attended taught by a counselor who specializes in treating rape victims.