In “The Wife Beater” by Gayle Rosenwald Smith, the author uses the history of the long, cotton tank top that is often referred to as a “wife-beater” to address the issues of domestic violence. Before the story begins, there is some background information that addresses a company which sells wife-beaters online. The website is designed to show some derogatory images on the homepage of the website and the owners of the website give those convicted of domestic violence a discount on their purchase (Kirszner and Mandell 516). In Smith’s story, she explains the history of the wife beater along with the different reasons for its popularity. According to Smith, “the World Book Dictionary” locates the origin of the term wife-beater in the 1970s, from …show more content…
The author shows a sign of worry that individuals under the age of 25 do not seem to care about the topic of domestic violence and “[they] do not seem to be disturbed by the name” (Smith 516). It seems like Smith finds the term offensive because the term was given its fame from women being sexualized, assaulted, or both. Most people, like myself, have never put much thought into why the wife-beater was given its name until after reading Smith’s writing. Smith calls attention to the fact that “more than 4 million women are victims of severe assaults by boyfriends and husbands each year… [and] children of abusers often learn the behavior from their leaders” (517). Although Smith makes excellent points about domestic violence and the nature of the wife-beater tank tops, she fails to acknowledge one very important thing: men experience domestic violence just like women …show more content…
Most commonly, people question if domestic violence actually happens towards men because they feel like “if it happened frequently, we would hear more about it” (Cook 1). People also feel like if a man reports acts of sexual violence, then it is from “a woman who has been assaulted and [was] fighting back” (Cook 2) and that the injuries cannot be serious because women usually are not as strong as men (Cook 2). However, none of this is actually true, “the extent of [domestic abuse towards men] remains unknown… [because] violence against men tends to go unrecognized since men are less likely to admit to or report incidents because of embarrassment” (Barber 35). Many people do not believe that a woman could cause harm to a man, but in fact “male victims may experience broken limbs, knife wounds, teeth marks, scratches and lacerations” (Barber 38). Domestic abuse is not limited to physical harm, in fact, domestic violence is defined as “verbal, sexual, and emotional intimidation or financial abuse” (Barber 35). Basically, the perpetrator seeks a sense of power over the victim by using the ways listed above as a scare tactic. By using these tactics, the victims, both men and women, might feel forced to keep quiet of the initial abuse in fear that the abuse might become more
“Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence, is defined as a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partners” (Peeks-Asa). When it comes to domestic violence many people don’t want to get involved, but if just one person took a stand maybe others would follow and potentially save a life, like the neighbors did in The Day It Happened by Rosario Morales. Domestic violence can happen to anyone at any time, there is no typical victim or perpetrator. The fact that there is no one specific group that domestic violence occurs in more than another, only makes it more difficult to get an accurate representation of just who is being affected by this crime. “Domestic violence and abuse does not discriminate” (Smith and Segal). Domestic violence can have specific victims such as a spouse or domestic partner, a child, or an elder. Domestic violence can affect men as well as women. Some types of domestic violence are physical, verbal or nonverbal, sexual, stalking or cyberstalking, economic or financial, and spiritual.
Like child abuse, it affects every American by impacting those we love the most. Awareness for domestic violence victims has evolved since the beginning of our country. In earlier times, it was a private matter, and took place “behind closed doors”. They helped them past their sufferings and place them back into mainstream culture. (Karmen, 2015) Claims one movement that assisted with the process is the Feminist Movement. This widespread movement took place during the 1970’s, and represented the “beaten women”. It helped them stand up for themselves during their distraught times. Domestic tranquility ensures women their safety at home under their husbands’ protection. The Feminist’s Movement questioned domestic tranquility and urged women to stand up for themselves (Karmen, 2015). They discovered the “silent crisis” that lived inside so many women at the time. The crisis was that the men they married gave into the times of “behind closed doors” and “look the other way”. Those times would stand no more, due to the feminist’s movement and widespread awareness. Laws and legislation have changed since the rediscovery of the victims of domestic violence. One example is restraining orders. Restraining orders set up a level of protection for the women from the male offenders. Another example of legislation is The Violence Against Women Act. Promulgated in 1994 the act mandates that all states enforce protective orders issued in a
It was the research of Dobash and Dobash, a husband and wife team from Wales, that first posited that “intimate partner violence is the result of male oppression of women within a patriarchal system in which men are the primary perpetrators and women the primary victims” (McPhail, B. A., Busch, N. B., Kulkarni, S., & Rice, G., 2007). According to Lawson (2012), feminist theories treat the problem of intimate partner violence as fundamentally related to the patriarchal domination of men over women. Historically, patriarchy was the dominant social structure from early Greek and Roman civilizations where women were considered to be the property of their father, if unmarried, and their husband if married. As such, women were often beaten, burned, and killed for not being obedient to a man’s
The theories and explanations for battered women's behavior started in the late 1970's as a result of the oppression of women. Feminist movements in the late 1970's caused great social uproar among legal and political...
Every year about 4000 women die in the U.S. because of the domestic violence. Every year this number gets higher and higher. Even though we live in the 21st century people can’t find the way to improve the situation. But before searching for the solution, people should understand what domestic violence is. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, domestic violence is: “any abuse—including physical, emotional, sexual, or financial—between intimate partners, often living in the same household” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Most of the people believe that domestic
Andrea Dworkin devoted her life to supporting feminism. In one of her speeches, she states, “Male supremacy is fused into the language, so that every sentence both heralds and affirms it.” Andrea’s quote shows that male supremacy is so common that it is practically part of human nature. In society, men feel entitled to abuse their wives whenever they feel discouraged or depressed. For example, when husbands do not treat their wives with the respect they deserve, it can lead to violence or divorce. This has been recently shown by Pentecostal evangelist Juanita Bynum. She filed for divorce from her husband following a brutal domestic violence incident. In analysis, when husbands abuse their wives, it does not cure their hurtful feelings; it only creates problems and hurts women. Historically, Southern men in the middle 1900’s, like the ones in The Color Purple, traditionally treated their wives as if they were worthless or unimportant. In her novel, The Color Purple, Alice Walker shows husbands abuse their power over their wives to escape their problems through Harpo, Mr. _____ and Gra...
Historically, legal and social traditions in the United States have permitted and supported the abuse of women and children by the male head of household. This historical phenomenon helps explain why women are the primary victims of domestic violence. In this country, civil rights and legal responsibilities were first granted to free, property-owning men. Wives, children, and slaves were considered "chattel" or personal property of male citizens who were held responsible for their public behavior.
Just under half a million Australian women reported that they had experienced physical or sexual violence or sexual assault. Women that are personally victimized by domestic violence become emotionally unstable and they are unable to cope with certain situations. Many think that it is their fault because they think they’ve done something wrong to cause their spouse attack them. However, women aren’t the only victims when it comes to domestic violence; men are victims too. The majority of violence against men is committed by other men. Of men who reported that they had experienced physical violence, 73.7% said that the perpetrator was a male, but that doesn’t mean women don’t abuse males just as much. Women are much more sympathised than men when it comes to domestic violence. People just assume that if a male is getting physically or emotionally abused, they’re a wimp and can’t fight for themselves. Whereas if a women was the victim, people automatically blame the abuser. At least one in three victims of some type of domestic violence is
Each year approximately 4.8 million acts of physical or sexual aggression are perpetrated against women while 2.9 million physically aggressive acts are perpetrated against men within the United States (Edleson, Ellerton, Seagren, Kirchberg, Schmidt & Ambrose, 2007). Many of these incidents take place in the presences of children, which make these figures even more disturbing (Evans, Davies & DiLillo, 2008). Research indicates that 40.2% of United States battered women responding in national surveys state that their children have witnessed one or more abusive events (Edleson et al., 2007). Overall 66% of research samples regarding childhood exposure to domestic violence reported to having direct exposure to the abuse (Barnett, Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2011).
Most people in society are one sided when it comes to domestic violence. Most people automatically think domestic violence as men abusing women. Most people believe domestic violence is associated with gender. For instance, some people associate men with violent, destructive, and belligerent behavior. While women are often seen as innocent, fragile, and vulnerable. For many years men were the ones showing violent behavior, so most people believe men are usually the aggressor. Many people believe men should never abuse a woman, and if he does he will charged and most likely serve jail time. Although, women are not viewed the same way. Over the years women have become just as aggressive and violent as men have been portrayed. Many women who are violent are given a pass if they abuse a man. More simply, their behavior is overlooked, because they are not seen as a threat to society, so they will most likely not be jailed or punished for their behavior. In addition, there are many resources to help women get out of domestic violence situations. For instance, there are hotlines they can call, shelters they can visit, and support
“One woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States” (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). Domestic violence can interfere with the husband-wife relationship because one spouse is always in constant fear of the other. This violence could vary from physical abuse to ps...
Historically, domestic violence was viewed as only involving physical abuse. However, the more contemporary view of domestic violence has come to include not only physical types of abuse; but as well as emotional, sexual, physiological, and economic violence that may be committed
To begin with, the definition of domestic violence is “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (“What Is Domestic Violence”). Ranging from grown women to young children, many are victims to abuse. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States” (“Statistics”). Just by calculating, that is 28,800 people who are abused in just ONE DAY! The scary part is that this number does not even account for the numerous cases that are not even told. Many victims are threatened or even hurt so bad that they must keep their mouth shut in fear of even worse abuse to come. Of
Even those of us who like to consider ourselves liberated and open-minded often have a difficult time even imagining that husband battering could take place. Although feminism has opened many of our eyes about the existance of domestic violence, and newspaper reports often include incidents of abuse of wives, the abuse of husbands is a rarely discussed phenomenon.
As professional athletes remind us on a weekly basis, domestic violence is a social problem which continues to plague the nation. Through stricter law enforcement, improved hospital reporting techniques, and nationwide education and counseling, this problem can be reduced. Domestic violence has many different names such as, family violence, battering, wife beating, and domestic abuse. All these terms refer to the same thing, abuse by marital, common law, or a dating partner in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence is not limited to physical beating. It is any behavior that is intended to overpower and control another human being through the use of humiliation, fear, and physical or verbal assault. Domestic violence is a very important issue in today’s society because it has such a profound negative affect on the abused, mentally and physically. Verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse. Verbal abuse is words that attack or injure an individual’s self-image, which eventually shatters one’s self-esteem. In this paper, I will discuss the many kinds of abuses against women, the reasons why women stay in these relationships, and possible solutions to diminish or reduce the problems of domestic violence.