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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE KNOWS NO GENDER
"Domestic Violence Awareness Month" should be a time, as well as a phrase, that addresses the problems of all who are impacted by violence in society. Yet, rather than seeking to heal the wounds that afflict society as a whole, the term "Domestic Violence" has become a political wedge that has been driven between men and women by groups who seek to benefit from gender warfare. A woman or man who seeks true equality between the sexes will get no argument from me. Yet, feminists who allegedly began their campaign seeking equality between men and women have chosen to broaden the divide between the sexes. In the political vitriol of the moment, "male bashing feminists" have succeeded in rendering Domestic Violence synonymous with men. I make the distinction between all feminists and "male bashing feminists" for the simple reason that there is a distinction to be made. According to the politics of this group, Domestic Violence is not a problem of society, it is a problem of the men in society. It is a problem they "perceive and promote" as resulting from the uncontrolled violent nature of men which preys upon the innocent and benign nature of women and children.
However, that faction of feminism which I have defined as "male bashing feminists" suffer from a syndrome which is best described as a type of "cafeteria feminism." They walk through the "feminist cafeteria of life" and pick and choose what they like. They demand that women be able to become generals in the military, yet do not insist that women, like young men, accept the responsibility of registering for the draft. They demand that women have exclusive control over reproductive rights which they call "choice", yet insist men be held responsible for choices over which they, (men) have no control.
Likewise, in the area of domestic violence if women demand to be treated as equals, they need to take responsibility for their acts. They can no longer deny a woman's capacity for aggression as well as violence. They can no longer deny that women batter their husbands, or that statistics show that children in America are battered mostly by women. They cannot excuse female murderers by the convenient defense of "battered wives syndrome." They can no longer deny that women as well as men are capable of acts of evil.
In Massachusetts, Kristen Gilbert is presently on trial for killing numbers of helpless men who relied on her as their caregiver in a Veterans Hospital. Louise Woodward shook an infant to death and received probation from the court. In South Carolina Susan Smith murdered her two sons by drowning them in a lake.
In 431 B.C. Euripedes wrote the play "Medea". It is a play about a mother who out of revenge against her husband chooses to slaughter her two young sons. The Greeks over two thousand years ago were willing to recognize the capacity of women for violence. Is America willing to recognize that capacity today? Is America willing to begin to recognize the more subtle forms of female violence and aggression? Or, as would be the preference of "male bashing feminists", will we continue to define Domestic Violence as a syndrome inherent in a flawed male psychology. To heal an illness requires a recognition of all the symptoms that are part of the sickness. If we as a society are sincere in our desire to eliminate the disease of Domestic Violence, we cannot ignore all components of the illness despite the political objectives of those who want to fan the flames of gender war.
James Castelli is a freelance writer with seventeen years of experience
analyzing the legal impact of issues presently confronting society.
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