Why do you have to neutralize them into ‘people close to her’? They are her brothers. Call it like it is. Every brother-sister relationship I’ve known is distinctly different than brother-brother or sister-sister relationships.
Maybe I just don't like his writing style as a whole and this particular aspect jumps out at me, but the article would have been at least twice as good if it weren't so annoyingly emphatic about the gender thing in more than one way.
Three sisters would not have gone this route and the police would likely have done nothing until after the stalking had escalated further. Also, 1 brother might not have attempted this either, especially considering the guy was a large creep and smart enough to wear a mask.
Nor would a woman allow her sisters to go vigilante for her.
These guys were quite restrained. I know families with 3 or more brothers and at least 1 sister. And for them, at best, the stalker would not be walking for awhile.
Brothers can be protective, and enraged and activated in a different way. Not saying that's the best route for this situation or others. But in many cases, it IS the best solution. Stalking can escalate very quickly.
Everyone that is like "oh they were so dumb" likely 1) doesn't understand that brother/sister dynamic, 2) hasn't had much experience with the police and/or 3) has never been violated by a stalker/home intruder/etc or very close with someone who has.
I've helped get someone arrested and charged before. I had video of the man breaking into my neighbor's car. I confronted him with my neighbor in real-time. We got him out of the car and questioned him and checked to see if anything was stolen or damaged. We called the cops, they eventually showed up after the guy left. Asked me some questions and they tried to downplay it as a likely homeless person looking for place to nap which it clearly wasn't as I saw him going through the car.
I'm talking with the cops and I see the man down the street. He never left the neighborhood. I tell the cops "there he is"! They keep asking me questions and I'm confused at their inaction. Yes he didn't take anything. But he entered the vehicle, was trespassing and going through the glovebox. Go question him!
They respond slowly and head the man's way. They do nothing. Later that night, guy comes back and is seen by the neighbor from the car incident. He sees him attempt to break into the neighbors garage. Then succeeds in breaking into the house. Cops come and take it more serious. They clear the house and arrest the guy later down the street. I submitted evidence from the earlier incident and he was charged.
Without any resolution, these criminals escalate.
It's easy to say - don't confront criminals, call the police, it's their job and they're trained. But that's what people who haven't experienced these things or had to rely on the police say.
Your comment is still mildly sexist in my view. You say that brothers would do this, you say that sisters would not do this (the woman would not allow them to do this).
I think that position is unfair. Surely there are many men who wouldn't do it or who wouldn't be capable of doing it. Also surely there are many women who would do it and who would be perfectly capable of doing it.
The differentiator between the siblings who would do this kind of action and those who would not is not their gender. The differentiator is their guts, the way they think, their physical abilities and their confidence in their physical abilities. It correlates with their gender, but it is not determined by their gender.
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To be clear I don't consider this a major issue, just want to express it better.
In most cases, sisters going a different route would be the smarter play. And even in this case, it could have gone really wrong if the creep had a weapon and was aggressive or killed someone after speeding off. But that didn't happen and the stalking didn't escalate. So sometimes... courage and strength mixed with some recklessness is the best resolution. And I don't think this guy should be dragged across the coals for saying his sister was lucky to have three brothers. This IS a 3 brother type of solution to a problem.
On the aggregate, you know I'm right. Not saying there can't be a pack of three sisters that would respond similarly, but it would be a rare exception. Do I need to update my statement to say "499 of 500 sister pairs would not have gone this route" and "Nor would 499 in 500 women allow their sisters to go vigilante for her".
Do we really need to preface every statement that has a rare exception? If so, I'm not sure we can talk about much. We couldn't even say that humans have 5 fingers on each hand because not everyone does.
There are real differences between the sexes. I don't get all sensitive about that fact.
Or get all sensitive when someone who gets a positive resolution and risked their safety for their sister doesn't write in a professionally sensitive, west coast manner. The guy expressed his story in a rather tame macho manner and people are getting upset after his victory protecting his sister lol.