Readers respond to "Study finds women as violent as men"
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Opinion/Editorial
The U.S. Department of Health and Human services has already noted that women, more than men, are perpetrators of
child abuse, 58 percent compared to 42 percent.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that women are more violent than men when it comes to adult relationships as well.
Don Mathis
Sherman, Texas
Letter 3
This article is one of the very few I've seen that actually explains that violence can take place beyond "bare hand" physical violence. Too often we are presented with statements such as, "A woman's slap stings; a man's punch can break a jaw."
As touched upon in this article, women have been known to throw screwdrivers and heavy books, use baseball bats, shovels and whatever else happens to be within reach at the time. And despite all this, men almost universally grit their teeth and control their physical anger knowing that "a man cannot hit a woman."
To those who doubt that female-on-male violence isn't bad enough to mention, maybe they should take a cast-iron skillet upside the head when they're not looking. Many men have.
My point is that all violence is bad - not just men who hit women. It's frustrating that the media and their accomplices choose to blatantly ignore this.
Rob Daugherty
Cheshire, Massachusetts
Letter 4
As a Webster alum and an advocate at a women's crisis center, I am compelled to respond to Jennifer Ginger's article titled "Study finds men as violent as women."
The issue at hand should not be whether women have the same capacity or are as violent as men regarding intimate partner violence. What must be understood and recognized is the historical and ongoing subordinate status of women in this world. This position greatly affects women's access to key resources, including money, employment, transportation, legal justice and housing, when wanting to leave abusive relationships.
As a group, women continue to be harmed by patriarchy while men as a group continue to benefit from it. To deny this or imply that this unbalance does not exist is not only inaccurate but harmful.
child abuse, 58 percent compared to 42 percent.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that women are more violent than men when it comes to adult relationships as well.
Don Mathis
Sherman, Texas
Letter 3
This article is one of the very few I've seen that actually explains that violence can take place beyond "bare hand" physical violence. Too often we are presented with statements such as, "A woman's slap stings; a man's punch can break a jaw."
As touched upon in this article, women have been known to throw screwdrivers and heavy books, use baseball bats, shovels and whatever else happens to be within reach at the time. And despite all this, men almost universally grit their teeth and control their physical anger knowing that "a man cannot hit a woman."
To those who doubt that female-on-male violence isn't bad enough to mention, maybe they should take a cast-iron skillet upside the head when they're not looking. Many men have.
My point is that all violence is bad - not just men who hit women. It's frustrating that the media and their accomplices choose to blatantly ignore this.
Rob Daugherty
Cheshire, Massachusetts
Letter 4
As a Webster alum and an advocate at a women's crisis center, I am compelled to respond to Jennifer Ginger's article titled "Study finds men as violent as women."
The issue at hand should not be whether women have the same capacity or are as violent as men regarding intimate partner violence. What must be understood and recognized is the historical and ongoing subordinate status of women in this world. This position greatly affects women's access to key resources, including money, employment, transportation, legal justice and housing, when wanting to leave abusive relationships.
As a group, women continue to be harmed by patriarchy while men as a group continue to benefit from it. To deny this or imply that this unbalance does not exist is not only inaccurate but harmful.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 22
Marc A.
posted 1/24/08 @ 8:11 PM CST
Elizabeth Hanson spews misandry and sweeping generalizations without any factual support at all. I challenge her show one thing about my organization or its website that is "misogynistic. (Continued…)
Darrin
posted 1/24/08 @ 8:55 PM CST
I consider myself both a feminist and a masculist. I believe that in general males are often objectified by their status/earning potential while women are often objectified by their bodies. (Continued…)
Darrin
posted 1/24/08 @ 10:02 PM CST
I always laugh when I hear the phrase "male privilege." Men commit suicide about 4x as often, comprise about 80% of the homeless, comprise over 90% of the prison population, live about 5 years less than women, and comprise over 90% of job fatalities. (Continued…)
Geoffrey Graybill
posted 1/25/08 @ 1:06 AM CST
Ms. Hanson's response to peer-reviewed research with ideological cant about male oppression of females is unjustified and counterproductive.
Males acquired the right to vote after the Magna Carta in order to have a say in whether they could be conscripted to fight wars. (Continued…)
David G
posted 1/25/08 @ 5:59 PM CST
Elizabeth Hanson makes me laugh with her "[poor women cant get access to] key resources, including money, employment, transportation, legal justice and housing, when wanting to leave abusive relationships". (Continued…)
Brian Gillin
posted 1/25/08 @ 9:12 PM CST
A punch typically does more damage than a slap, yes. So what? What if a woman punches and a man slaps? If a man "only" slaps a woman, doesn't leave a bruise, doesn't break a bone, doesn't cause her to bleed -- is it not abuse then? Of course it is. (Continued…)
paul parmenter
posted 1/26/08 @ 3:32 AM CST
I must write in support of Marc A, who does sterling work in this field, against the rantings of Elizabeth Hanson. Which of these two backs up their arguments with references to proper research and factual information, and which of them just throws wild and generalised accusations around without any supporting evidence?
I am getting heartily sick and tired of reasoned, factually-supported attempts to provide a level and fair playing field for men, being sabotaged by people who think that plastering the label of "misogyny" on someone who disagrees with them, is an acceptable substitute for intelligent debate. (Continued…)
Aarde V Atheian
posted 1/27/08 @ 1:41 AM CST
I wander how the feminists would respond if this event happened to them.
A guy from the Soviet Union who had duped an American girl into marrying him came here and started looking for an American guy to apply the same ruise for his sister. (Continued…)
Elizabeth Hanson
posted 1/28/08 @ 9:17 AM CST
Wow. Thanks for proving my point. I need not engage in a war of statistics and "facts" with men who refuse to recognize their collective privlege as men (this is not about individuals, folks)and their either indirect or direct role in violence against women. (Continued…)
Ben
posted 1/28/08 @ 4:19 PM CST
I often wonder if these people like elizabeth hanson really believe the absurd statements they make,or are the statements just part of the ongoing feminist ploy to always keep the spotlight of victimization pointed on women to ensure that men are forever unrepresented and legally disempowered? I guess some would say its both. (Continued…)
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