Jackson Katz gave a TEDtalk on violence against women, such as sexual assault and domestic violence, and began his talk with the statement “I'm going to argue that these are men's issues, first and foremost” (Katz). The way that violence against women is displayed is frequently in a way that makes it completely about women, rather than about the men who are incurring the violence. While he is not saying that it is not an issue for women as well, he is trying to dispel the misconception that men are not the issue. In society, one fact that is commonly misconstrued is that the decisions made by a woman are what caused her to get beaten or raped, such as what she was wearing, and the actual role of the perpetrator is downplayed. By raising awareness that it a man’s issue, he hopes that these types of negative circumstances become less and less due to attacking the problem from the root rather than taking the easy way out and blaming the woman. …show more content…
Katz goes on to give examples of things that can be done, and things that he has done to improve this incorrect and negative projection. One thing that he has done is teach a leadership class in an effort to start with people in power, and have them learn how to not foster a thought process that eliminates men from the equation in their subordinates. While he talks about the importance of men in power going against the flow and spreading awareness, he also brings attention to the “bystander approach” which is essentially not allowing other men you are with to talk in a derogatory fashion about women. By helping men around you to treat women with respect when there are no women around, it helps them learn how to treat women with respect when they are with them, and as a result diminish the amount of violence against
National data gives us an indication of the severity of this issue. When 1 in 5-woman report being victims of severe physical violence (NISVS, 2010), we must ask ourselves if enough is being done to prevent this from occurring. From a historical point, there has always almost been a distinction from men on woman violence. Based on the disparity of cases reported, male inflicted violence on females is much higher and prevalent. When the perpetrators of DV, and IPV are predominately males, we can no longer dismissed this issue as a cultural, or
"Violence against women-it's a men's issue." Jackson Katz:. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .
Women’s issues are a huge concern to me as I transition into the adult world, especially when sexual assaults are associated with the college culture. From the streets of America to a child bride in Africa, women are suffering from abuse, harassment, and mistreatment. The feminist movement has enhanced life for women, but, in modern society, there are many areas that still need improvement. If we want to resolve issues over the treatment of women, we must tackle and overcome negative views of women, take preventive measures to ensure the safety of women, and bring attention to these injustices.
In the Macho Paradox Katz explores the issue of violence against women, but emphasizes the importance of men taking this issue personally and understanding its relevance for themselves and the women in their lives. Katz creates a personal connection to violence against women for the male audience of his book by emphasizing the statistical likelihood of them each knowing a survivor of violence. Katz uses the idea of knowing a survivor to make the issue of violence both personally relatable and relevant for men, with the intention of using this relatability as a catalyst for action and as a means of creating pathways for men to understand their importance as allies in the fight against gendered violence.
In the past century, America has made great leaps in terms of equality. With the efforts made by the civil rights and suffrage movements, all people gained the right to vote. We are even moving forward with marriage equality, and currently fifteen states recognize same-sex marriage. But regardless of all of our progressive institutional movements forward, we continue to socially oppress women. Men’s violence against women has grown to be an internationally recognized epidemic, and will continue to grow unless measures be made to stop it. Domestic violence continues to be prevalent in the lives of many families, and is the primary cause of homelessness in half of cases for women in children. Many women have been forced to alter their behaviors out of fear of being sexually or physically assaulted. One out of every three women is sexually or physically abused in their lifetimes. The first thing that comes to mind is, there are a lot of people abusing women out there. Many people with opposing ideas may claim that men can be victims of violence perpetrated by women, but in instances not used for self-defense, it is rarely part of a systematic pattern of power and control through force or threat of force. In fact, 99% of rape is perpetrated by men, but when confronting men about the issue of violence against women, it is often combated with denial. Jackson Katz writes in his book, The Macho Paradox, “We take comfort in the idea of the aforementioned child-rapist murderer as a horrible aberration. A monster. We’re nothing like him.”(Katz 30). The sad truth is that most women who are raped are raped by men they know, or even men they love. Many men have a hard time believing that saying that most violence is perpetuated by men does not...
All of the issues that contain women also contain men. In the Ted Talk “Violence Against Women -- It’s a Men’s Issue” by Jackson Katz and the article “The Longest War” by Rebecca Solnit, they both inform the audience about what needs to be changed with gender violence issues. A majority of gender violence is caused by men attacking women or men attacking other men. When law enforcement interrogates people to understand what happened, they don’t talk to the men that caused the actions. Instead, they question the women or men that were attacked to see why they didn’t do more to prevent the occurrence.
In “Violence Against Women Is a Men’s Issue” the author, Jackson Katz, really connects the audience to the fact that we live in a society that almost promotes violence towards women, and that women, or victims, are not to blame for this.
Rape and sexual harassment are both two common forms of sexual violence prevalent in the United States. Although both events can happen to men, women are more prone to face these occurrences. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, “78% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are women and 22% are men” (“Domestic Violence Statistics”). In 2011, companies experienced sexual harassment charges at 11% in relation to all charges brought forth to businesses, and 16% of these charges were filed by men ("Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment"). These women are eternally tainted by these occurrences, as Jean Améry wrote, “whoever was tortured, stays tortured” (Brison 5). Our American society rarely considers the effect on these women as well as many other societal misgivings centered on sexual violence in an appropriate manner. The statistics discuss the frequency of these acts of violence, however, they do not consider the stereotypes experienced by women minorities (African Americans and Asian Pacific Americans, for instance), or the higher likelihood of these incidences that come along with the preconceived notions compared to white women, nor do they delve into the horrible aftermath of these situations that these women face.
During the 1980s and 1900s, domestic violence was one of the most unreported crimes that involve females and males getting hurt and dying. Kicking, choking, killing, and saying brutal or despise words that could hurt the victims physically or emotionally are considered domestic violence. In fact, many victims are afraid to seek for help. According to “The Domestic Violence Resource Center (DVRC), women account for approximately 85 percent of all intimate partner violence, with women aged 20-24 at greater risk” (Batten, par.16). Most pregnant women are at risk as well. “But underlying approach is still one that assumes the perpetrators are men and the victims are woman” (Haugen, par. 1). Moreover, both males and females believe that domestic violence is a solution to their issues.
Finally, we need to shine a light into dark corners, where the women abusers don’t want you to look. Darkness is the friend to fear, violence, and verbal assault. No woman should believe that they deserve to be treated inhumanely by any person. No excuse validates any type of anger or violence against women. No word or acts are so powerful that a woman should lose their self-esteem and soul. Any form of violence against women such as domestic violence, verbal assault, or gender inequality is a problem that affects a great number of women in our nation. It should never be tolerated. We need to create a culture where gender inequality is not tolerated. Where men and women can aspire as far as their dreams can take them.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
The root of gendered violence, as it occurs in Western society, is rape culture – “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent.” Rape culture is the idea that a woman who wore a short skirt at the time of her assault was ‘asking for it’. Rape culture is when I walk down the Buchanan hallways and hear rape jokes or cavalier comments such as “I totally raped my midterm”. Rape culture is the guy who took advantage of me when I was drinking and said afterwards, “I was just trying to get as much as I could, that’s what guys
Oftentimes, the things individuals take for granted as preexisting facts are merely the products of social construction, which exert tremendous impacts on belief and action. Men and women are socially constructed categories inscribed by norms of masculinity and femininity that enables rape to occur. Catharine MacKinnon claims that rape is defined in a male perspective, which lacks the account of female experience. On the other hand, Sharon Marcus argues that rape is a constructed language that scripts the female body. As bell hooks points out, black men celebrate “rape culture” as a mean of expressing patriarchal dominance and endorsing female subordination. In order to redefine rape and to develop effective rape prevention, it is crucial to deconstruct the predetermined assumptions about men and women. Rape is socially constructed, through the ways how individuals possess misogynistic ideologies and endorse patriarchal power, turning the erotic fantasy of male dominance into “reality”.
Billboards, radio, and TV ads across the country proclaim that “every fifteen seconds a woman is beaten by a man.” Violence against women is clearly a problem of national importance, but has anyone ever asked how often men are beaten by women? The unfortunate fact is that men are the victims of domestic violence at least as often as women are. While the very idea of men being beaten by their wives runs contrary to many of our deeply ingrained beliefs about men and women, female violence against men is a well-documented phenomenon almost completely ignored by both the media and society.
In order to tackle the issue of gender based violence, one must first understand the root of the issue. According to Peterson and Runyan, gender refers to the socially learned behavior and expectations that distinguish between masculinity and femininity. However, sex identity is known as the genetic and anatomical characteristics. Meanwhile, socially learned gender is an acquired identity gained through performing predetermined gender roles. Understandably, Society places different values on masculine and feminine behaviors. Gender has now become the basis for relations of inequality and is a powerful lens that we all use to experience and organize reality.