Texas Mom Ripped Off Son's Scrotum and Then Superglued It Back On

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. Patriarchy and violence

Last edited Sun Oct 27, 2013, 12:00 AM - Edit history (2)

The same set of cultural assumptions that encourage people to see men as the only ones capable of leadership also encourage people to see men as the only ones capable of violence.
"Never hit a girl, no matter what" is good advice, but doesn't go far enough. Don't hit boys either; this advice should be given to both boys and girls.

Reduction in the frequency of domestic violence has hit a wall because of a refusal to confront the bias described in the first sentence above. Domestic violence is mostly reciprocal and studies have shown that only 15% is nonreciprocal violence perpetrated by the man.

This was exemplified to me by a facebook post from my friends at the local domestic violence center celebrating the recent overturning of Marissa Alexander's conviction for aggravated assault - despite the fact that she is a convicted domestic batterer. If the cause is reducing domestic violence, then it doesn't help to celebrate the release of those convicted of it.

The boy in the OP is a victim of domestic violence. Perhaps if the cultural approaches to dealing with it as a social problem were a little more gender independent he wouldn't be.