James,
As a wife and mother of a pre-teen daughter, how important is it to hide the fact that we are female in a G.O.O.D. scenario?
In considering this idea I realize that in the “flee natural disaster” situation it would be less of a concern. Perhaps it only applies to a bad TEOTWAWKI evacuation. What are your thoughts, ideas on this? When would it be necessary, how far would we need to go to disguise our female appearance, etc?
We have thought of everything from mildly sticking to athletic/hiking clothing that are form fitting but don’t show skin, to cutting our daughter’s hair before heading out and calling her by a male nickname that is close to her real name and buying all her BOB gear in masculine colors, and so forth.
We have also considered the pros and cons of letting it be known that I am a female to draw attention away from my beautiful daughter while she is “hidden”. As a mother I would suffer anything to protect my kids, especially if we were without my husband (geographically separated, killed…) We also thought we might appear more sympathetic if they can see we are just a mom and kids instead of what appears to be armed men and boys coming at them.
Please tell me if this is something our family needs to consider in our planning. Thank you, – R.
JWR Replies: The last thing that you want to become is a refugee, moving cross-country on foot. But God forbid that ever happens, then yes, it would be wise to make females look like a teenage boys. BTW, in addition to butch haircuts, some judicious use of eyebrow pencil should help.