Readers respond to "Study finds women as violent as men"
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Opinion/Editorial
Letter 1
Thank you for covering the research showing women are as violent as men in relationships and for quoting my organization. ("Study finds women as violent as men," Dec. 6). However, please allow me to respond to Professor Don Conway-Long's sexist comments that unfairly stigmatize and down play male victims.
Conway-Long said "a woman's slap stings, a man's punch can break a jaw." What about women who use weapons? What about disabled or elderly men? I have worked with men who were stabbed, cut with glass and had their teeth broken with an ashtray - all acts committed by female partners. That's much more than a "sting." Even the study in the article found men are injured at significant rates, incurring one-third of injuries. And children are damaged by witnessing even non-injurious violence.
Conway-Long also misleadingly implied that women are hitting in self-defense by saying women have become "more willing to stand up for themselves." But the study in the article found women initiated most of the reciprocal violence and committed 71 percent of the non-reciprocal violence, while other research confirms women initiate the violence at least as often as men. Studies that looked at motives found 10 percent of the violence by women and 15 percent of the violence by men was in self-defense.
Conway-Long is wrong to suggest male victims aren't really victims or that they're not seriously hurt. Male victims have been down played and stereotyped for long enough, and ignoring half the violence only contributes to the cycle of violence even more.
Marc E. Angelucci
President
Los Angeles Chapter
National Coalition
of Free Men
Letter 2
Victor Frankl, in his book, "Man's Search for Meaning," tells us about the atrocities of life in the Nazi concentration camps. The worst thing was not the beatings or the lack of nourishment. The worst thing about life in a concentration camp was the injustice of it all.
Don Conway-Long, WU associate professor and Behavioral and Social Sciences chair, said, "A woman's slap stings, a man's punch can break a jaw." True, but this does not affect the injustice of the act one iota.
Thank you for covering the research showing women are as violent as men in relationships and for quoting my organization. ("Study finds women as violent as men," Dec. 6). However, please allow me to respond to Professor Don Conway-Long's sexist comments that unfairly stigmatize and down play male victims.
Conway-Long said "a woman's slap stings, a man's punch can break a jaw." What about women who use weapons? What about disabled or elderly men? I have worked with men who were stabbed, cut with glass and had their teeth broken with an ashtray - all acts committed by female partners. That's much more than a "sting." Even the study in the article found men are injured at significant rates, incurring one-third of injuries. And children are damaged by witnessing even non-injurious violence.
Conway-Long also misleadingly implied that women are hitting in self-defense by saying women have become "more willing to stand up for themselves." But the study in the article found women initiated most of the reciprocal violence and committed 71 percent of the non-reciprocal violence, while other research confirms women initiate the violence at least as often as men. Studies that looked at motives found 10 percent of the violence by women and 15 percent of the violence by men was in self-defense.
Conway-Long is wrong to suggest male victims aren't really victims or that they're not seriously hurt. Male victims have been down played and stereotyped for long enough, and ignoring half the violence only contributes to the cycle of violence even more.
Marc E. Angelucci
President
Los Angeles Chapter
National Coalition
of Free Men
Letter 2
Victor Frankl, in his book, "Man's Search for Meaning," tells us about the atrocities of life in the Nazi concentration camps. The worst thing was not the beatings or the lack of nourishment. The worst thing about life in a concentration camp was the injustice of it all.
Don Conway-Long, WU associate professor and Behavioral and Social Sciences chair, said, "A woman's slap stings, a man's punch can break a jaw." True, but this does not affect the injustice of the act one iota.
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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