The Protected, The Protector, The Defender

The state claims the offering of protection through the use of legitimate force as its defining function. But for the most part only men are allowed to use that force; only men are allowed to be protectors. But women who are supposed to be protected know that they frequently are not. They also know that protectors are often a source of danger to the protected. This essay investigates the nature of the protected, the protector, and the defender who participates fully in the creation of security but who neither is dependent nor has dependents. It proposes that men and women share equally in defense.