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July 1994

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Subject:
From:
Rod Carveth <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 23:00:00 EDT
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To Alison
 
In response to your post:
 
1) You indicate that "some" of the research on domestic violence indicates
that men can be victims, too.  So as not to leave that statement hanging,
there is only "some" literature because until recently domestic violence
was automatically defined as violence against women.
 
2) We should always look at the context of research, as well as where the
research is coming from.  But Murray Strauss and Richard Gelles have
never seemed to have any political agenda that should make us suspicious,
and Suzanne Steinmetz is a feminist.
 
3) Perhaps my statement about personal social reality was overstated.
On the other hand, your experience has shaped how you see the issue.
My experience has been different, and influences my perception.  What
is "true" is something that we need to seek, and is not an exercise
in irresponsibility, as you hinted at in your first post.
 
4) Finally, on the discussion of statistics, consider the following:
over 90% of domestic violence reports come from women.  How should
we treat that "fact?"  That men are 9 times as likely as women to
abuse their partners?  That men are AT LEAST 9 times as likely to abuse women
and that the figure is understated because women are reluctant to report
abuse?  That men rarely report abuse, thus skewing the figures on
REPORTED incidents of domestic violence?
 
A couple of other posts suggested that the "truth" about domestic violence
can be found in the "fact" of how many women popular shelters.  Do men
also populate these shelters?  If so, how many?  Or, are they discouraged
from calling, because of either male socialization, or by how they are
treated if they do call the shelter (that is, would they be believed)?
 
Anyway, if I inadvertently distorted what you said in your first post,
I apologize.
 
Rod Carveth
University of Bridgeport

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