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