Hi Waiting,
Unfortunately, like you, I also grew up with an alcoholic, abusive father that beat me and my sister up simply out of anger. I remember when my little brother was 2 years old, sitting at the table on a high chair, trying to drink a glass of milk and spilling it...and my father slapping him so hard that he fell backwards off his high chair. My mom got beaten up many times, sometimes in front of us, and that has scarred me for life. Even today, I cannot watch any movies where there's violence, especially against women. If I hear a woman screaming on the TV, I have to turn off the TV (usually to the consternation of my friends that may be watching), or I have to run out of the room. How does that grab you for a mid-30s guy?
I also know of many other examples of female abuse, especially when I was volunteering at a women's shelter where my mom was on the board.
However, after my experience with my ex (and with the other couple I mentioned), I realized that it's a two way street.
After posting my initial post, I did look for those articles, so that I could post the URLs...but all I could find were the two articles from Detroit (one posted, the other a URL). Perhaps you might have more luck with your search engine locating them...if they were ever put on-line.
You asked me:
The "same cases" as the 40% which are males? Or "same cases" where the woman is beaten?
Are you suggesting that when men are beaten 40% of the time, 60% of the time in the same cases, the emotional woman is the instigator?
Yes, that's what the article pointed out. The women started the fights in 60% of the cases, with the result that most of them also abused their male mate. I also found it hard to believe when I read it, because in my experience in the women's shelters, I was made to believe that it's always the man that always starts the fight and beats up the woman. Mind you, in the shelter, you are only made aware of just one side of the story.
You also said:
Would it then follow that if women are "emotional" when institagating violent - that men are also? How inconvenient for women to be singled out for the only sex to have emotions.
No, don't put words in my mouth, please. All that was stated is that overall women are more emotional than men. It's part of their make-up. And it wasn't said in a negative way. And again, no, the women weren't singled out as the only sex to have emotions. If 40% of the men in the statistics are the ones receiving the abuse, I'm sure it's because their emotions aren't allowing them to hit a female...something that also prevented me from hitting my wife, with the result that she took advantage of me.
You also said:
Btw - in your statistics, where does drinking and generational violence come into play? Or is it just the "emotions of the woman?" It's the only thing you brought out as causing violence in women.
Interesting about the drinking. I remember reading somewhere in some other statistics (and I'm sure you're going to ask me to produce them, which I can't at the moment..they are just a memory) that in overall percentages, women and men were tied when it came to drinking. Just as many women hit the bottle as men do. And I'm sure that would also contribute to the woman being the agressor, "emotions" aside.
By the way...even though you're trying to tell me that you're not trying to appear antagonistic, from where I'm sitting, that's how it appears, since you're questioning me as if I wrote those things, when in fact, just like I stated several times....all I did was talk about some statistics that were recorded, and then said that violence is a two way street. (Because usually it's the women's rights groups that try to make it look all one-sided, violence against women, period).
You said that "both sides sling statistics". Well, most people reading this will have to agree that they had probably never heard about violence against men by their partners, or about male shelters, before my post. Usually, only the women sling statistics against men, and all I tried to do, "like lawyers do", is present another side to the story.
Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada