Men and Masculinity (Social Science notes) Abuse of women

Ok, Remember that Men and Masculinity course I mentioned taking in Undergrad? We had quite a few books to read which were all about men, thus the topic, and I have some loose leaf notes for you. Remember that the stats are a few years back but still relevant today. I worked as an intern for a year with women who had been abused and I actually stepped in when there was a discussion that a woman had to testify against her abuser. I corrected this misinformed person. It is important that people who work with the abused understand the law themselves in their support of the people they serve. How does male violence affect society? A huge study released by statistics Canada in 1993 (white ribbon campaign handout) informs us that one in two Canadian women has experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. The study’s definition of violence follows Criminal Code of Canada and does not include the many forms of sexual harassment women experience everyday. Violence against women in Canada takes a variety of forms including physical assault, sexual assault, sexual harassment, psychological abuse and emotional abuse. Not all violence leaves physical scars. Violence against women consists of sexist jokes to domineering forms of behaviour, battering and murder. (I am going to include financial abuse which was not mentioned at the time). Three out of four women in your neighbourhood fear using public transport after dark. Only two in five feel safe walking in their neighbourhood after dark. Basic rights that men enjoy are the source of fear of the majority of Canadian women. The fear is greatest in women’s own homes. A common myth is that violence against women is committed by strangers. In fact women are most at risk from men they know - their husbands, boyfriends, dates, uncles, employers and caregivers. Of women who experienced violence only 23% was by a stranger. Almost one in three women (29%) who have ever been married or lived in a common-law relationship have experienced violence at the hands of their male partners. Every seven minutes a sexual assault is committed in Canada. 90% of the victims are women. Violence against women occurs in every region of Canada, among the rich, poor, middle class and among those of every nationality, religion and race. Violence is something learned. It is a result of the way many men learn to express their masculinity in relationships with women, children and other men. Gloria Steinem revealed that one in four women is sexually assaulted in her life time. 51% of college men said they would rape if they could get away with it. Domestic violence is the single largest cause of injury to women in the U.S.A. More than half of battering husbands also abuse their children. Battered women are more likely to be killed after attempting to escape, yet 40% of women who apply for shelters for themselves and their children cannot find one. How does Male violence affect society? Kaufman talks about violence being institutionalized as an acceptable means of solving conflict. Now the world over poses a threat to the future of life itself. The daily work life of industrial and class societies, is one of violence. It is violence that exposes workers to the dangers of chemicals, radiation, machinery; muscle strain. It is violence that condemns the majority to work to exhaustion for forty or fifty years and then to be thrown into society’s garbage bin for the elderly and used up. The racism, sexism and heterosexism that have been institutionalized in our societies are socially regulated acts of violence. Kaufman in Beyond Patriarch reveals that violence is not only against women, but also against other men and oneself. Violence against other men is visible throughout society. Some forms such as fighting, the ritualized, display violence of teenagers and some groups of adult men, institutionalized rape in prisons and attacks on gay or racial minorities are very direct expressions of this violence. In many sports, violence is incorporated into exercise and entertainment. More subtle forms are the verbal putdowns or combined with economic and other factors, the competition in the business, political or academic world. In its more frightening form violence has long been an acceptable and even preferred method of addressing differences and conflicts among different groups and states. Beyond Patriarchy expresses concern about the affect of sports on relations with other men. Sports where territorial control is important such as football, basket ball, boxing and hockey encourage athletes to treat each other as enemies to be intimidated and brutalized, when in reality they are co-players without whom the rewards of playing cannot be obtained. Kaufman refers to Allan Sack, an American Sociologist who played in the 1966 Notre Dame Championship football team. He said that in many ways football is a training ground for rape. In the game, players learn to control the field to dominate other players and in the dressing room they endlessly fantasize and celebrate the male sexual conquest of women. There is violence in Not a Love Story. Penthouse and Playboy both sold more than three times and New Week together (at the time this would have been studied. Three to one porn outsell “normal” movies. A woman who makes love to her boyfriend hears a man from the audience yell F——H——. Hurt her. Because she has a small frame and he is big. Hurting women is bonding men. One impotent man felt strong again when watching women be dominated. Pornography is filled with the desecration of a woman’s body. The power of the woman’s psyche has to be destroyed. More violence is required to stimulate. One photo depicted a woman in a meat grinder. Pornography - anti sexuality. The conclusion is the destruction of the human body. The soul knows that the spirit is in the body. By violating the sexually, you are violating the soul. Rather than dealing with the negativeness in ourselves, we direct it at others. Can Rapist be Stopped exposes how rapists get excited thinking rape when following a van with a woman within. Even in aversion therapy, violence is still used by an electrical charge to the man’s private part when excited. Another rapist attempted to rape his mother and then killed her. Over 60% of men at this centre were sexually abused as children. Therapist in the movie said that they (rapists) feel powerful being in control. Number of men who have committed suicide are more than killed in the U.S. (At that time). Anybody’s Son Will Do - There are 20 wars at any given time. Narrator states that soldiers are a modern street gang. The army indoctrinates recruits that the enemy is not human so it is ok to kill him. It does not take a special kind of person, anyone’s son will do. We employ soldiers to do the dying for us. Kaufman in Cracking the Armour states that no woman can feel completely secure because 30% to 50% of women have been beaten, raped or victimized by incest, and countless more have been pressured into having sex or have been sexually harassed at work or on the street. Paul Kivel’s, Men Work reveals that men don’t suddenly appear in life, armed and dangerous. It takes years and years of training to turn boys into violent men. We taught the boys to fight, stand up for themselves, stay in control, and have no feelings to make them vulnerable. This strategy set up both girls and boys as targets of violence. Kivel too speaks of positive portrayals of violence in our culture. Our movie and sports heroes use violence and are rewarded for it with power, status, money and women.