Domestic Violence
Women's Studies 210 Analytic Response #2 Domestic violence and sexual assault are two difficult things to define. I define domestic violence as any unwanted physical contact from a significant other. Significant other being boyfriend, girlfriend, sexual partner, or spouse. I define sexual assault as any unwanted sexual contact. This could be rape or it could be an uninvited touch. The article "Domestic Violence: What's Love Got to do With It?" is a personal account of one incident of domestic violence that changed the author's life. She won't even give her full name because of her fear. She points out in the article her feeling of disbelief as her significant other, she refers to him as X, slammed her head on the concrete. She also points out how the police were very unhelpful and uncompassionate to her. The officer did not take into account that she was stunned and confused as well as physically injured from the incident. He asked her questions in an angry tone of voice and even threatened to arrest her for disorderly conduct
" These phrases are part of society's definition of masculinity. The article "Men Changing Men" highlights the Oakland Men's Project, a group dedicated to stopping male violence, racism, and homophobia. One of the activities that they do is show an encounter between an angry father and his son to schoolchildren. As I pointed out earlier, homophobia is the irrational fear of and hostility toward gay men, lesbians, or bisexuals. There is a connection between this type of violence and sexism. The exercise with the young boys shows that males are taught masculinity at a very young age. Sexism is the belief, attitude, action, or institutional structure that subordinates a person or group because of their sex. They ask a group of men various questions that fit society's definition of masculinity, such as "Have you ever been called a wimp?" or "Have you ever made a comment in public about a woman's body?" This gives men a chance to look at how dangerous society's definition of masculinity really is. They point out to the boys that it is very dangerous to live that way. When they asked the boys what they learned from the encounter, the reply was " a man is tough, a man is in control, a man doesn't cry. Her friends don't believe the incident is as serious as it is, and X is spreading rumors about her. Men are taught to hide emotions and only show anger. After the incident her life was not the same.
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Acceptance Essays
