What would Golda say?

I heard a story many years ago about Golda Meier, former Israeli Prime Minister, that proported to be from her time in the Israeli Parliament. I have no idea whether it is truth or folklore.

At the time, there had apparently been a steep rise in the reported number of rapes, and the concerned representatives felt moved to respond. They suggested a country-wide curfew for women, to “protect” them from the apparent predators. Rather than arguing with them about the obvious sexism that even made that suggestion a possibility, she turned it around. Golda responded that she thought it a wonderful idea, but that it seemed obvious that, were a curfew to be extended, she thought it should apply to the male half of the population. “After all, it is men committing these crimes, don’t you see?”

The proposal was, of course, immediately abandoned.

I couldn’t help but think of that when I read this, via Salon.