To Gloria, Missy and Donna:
 
It's too bad that we can't get to a good discussion of the issue of
_spousal_ abuse.  To just make men out to be the bogeymen here is too
simplistic.  Abuse just does not happen in a vacuum.  Most often,
it is a bad situation constructed by both participants.
 
Besides, to merely look at this as a male problem does little to empower
women;  rather, it continues to put them in the role of "victim."  By
its defintion, "victim" implies powerlessness.
 
The suggestion that the discussion get dropped may be a good one if
the hyperbole, hysteria and ad hominem attacks fail to cease.
 
Rod Carveth
University of Bridgeport.