...Capitalism and Patriarchy’s Effect on Battered Women’s Syndrome and Abuse Introduction Domestic violence has existed for centuries and is still prevalent in present day society (Flowers, 1996: 131). Domestic violence generally involves violence towards women and children (Sev’er, 2007: 235).This generally includes physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional violence directed towards a spouse, girlfriend, wife, or partner (DeKeseredy, 2005: 234). One of the debates surrounding domestic violence is the legitimacy of battered women’s syndrome. There are arguments over whether or not battered woman’s syndrome is a justifiable defence or just an excuse (Fumento, 1996: 158). The aim of this paper is to justify the legitimacy of Battered Women’s Syndrome, or BWS for short. I will look at the history of violence to better understand the credibility of BWS as well as why it is discredited. I will analyze how the patriarchal capitalist society we live in affects the views regarding BWS and abuse. The purpose of this section is to understand how the patriarchal capitalist society attempts to protect male status by discrediting the validity of spousal abuse and BWS. Definition and History Battered women’s syndrome results from a pattern of abuse from a partner (Barnett & LaViolette, 1996: 158). Spousal abuse has had a long history, and has grown since the middle ages (Flowers, 1996: 131). Social scientist Friedrich Engels noted that spousal abuse began “with the emergence of the...
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...There are many reasons why men abuse women. A one reason men abuse woman is because the men feel like they need to be in control all the time. Another reason is because they might have been surrounded by it as a child. Third reason is they have no respect for women. These men keep getting away with beating and harming these innocent women, and the women are not doing anything about it. “Statistics say, 71,000 episodes of domestic violence statewide in 1994, resulting in the deaths of 42 women (Battered Wives Remembered).” Men think that it is their job to be the boss in the relationship, and to take control. Men believe that they wear the “pants” in the relationship, and that they are a loud to make all the decisions, for both the women and themselves. There is a process to the men abusing these women. Stage one is Honeymoon. Honeymoon is where the men manipulate the women into thinking they are great, wonderful boyfriends, and that they are the one and only, and then they treat their partner like a princess. Once their women are all buttered up, they make promises to these women and then they slowly move into the second stage. Stage two is known as tension. Tension is the stage where the men fight, argue, push, shove, hit, kick, smack, punch, the women and break them down physically and emotionally. Once the tension builds up the couple goes into stage three. Stage three is called explosion. Explosion is when the men beat and abuse their women worse than in stage two. The cycle...
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...business to succeed. Management will obtain liability insurance. Management will also determine what will be considered real, intellectual property, labor and employment issues. Management is responsible for selecting the best way to obtain the resources needed for the business. Based on previous data on battered women shelters, their survival is determined by allocating funding through donations. In order to do this, a mission statement, and plan of operation has to be completed. Management should begin fundraising projects. Letters should be mailed to request monetary donations, supplies, and volunteers for the business. Management should contact local churches, restaurants, stores and ask if they are interested in adopting this project. Another good thing for management to be would to contact women dominated business and local YWCA. These businesses are more likely to become main contributors. Social and Economic Environment The social environment includes the structure of family. It will be the company’s social responsibility to create a functional environment. To empower women and mothers, by building self-esteem, educating, and delivering independence. I am a firm believer, greatness starts from within. Management’s job is to ensure the goals and mission statement is kept, applied, and maintained. The economic environment as stated in my abstract, are for low income woman....
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...need for screening women within the prison system to see if they had been victims of domestic violence. The author Barbara L Zust, PhD, RN, associate professor of nursing, wanted the readers to understand how many women are incarcerated for illegal activity they were forced by their abuser to commit with the alternative of them being killed. She presented how the judicial system blamed them for not leaving and the criminal justice system has ultimately wrongfully punished them in many cases by not allowing them to even present evidence at the trial of abuse. She states how statistics are not collected on a consistent basis throughout prisons, but in 2005 a random survey was given by the Bureau of Justice finding that 50% of the women in prison had been raped or abused by their partner prior to being convicted. Anecdotal data provided by prison health care providers indicated an even higher percentage of 90-95% of women being victims of domestic violence. The author also informs the readers that the United States is the only country in the world that has male guards overseeing the women prisoners. The lack of recognition of the abuse of these women, results in lack of programs to help them. Many of the victims then begin experiencing severe PTSD due to pat downs, searches, and use of restraints by the male prison guards. The author in trying to become more aware of the needs of these women has conducted a telephone survey which is still underway to women prisons nationwide...
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...Lived Realities and Formula Stories of "Battered Women” This article talks about how there has been a formulaic story attributed to battered women’s testimonies. In the title of this piece battered women is written in parenthesis because the author, Loseke believes that women are being trapped into taking the role of the defenseless woman who was a victimized by male violence. Loseke studies the behaviors at 4 different battered women’s support shelter organizations and pays close attention to the verbiage used amongst the residence during group discussions. In these group discussions we see that the mediator will try to keep the women talking only about their physical abuse experienced. If the conversations begin to digress, the staff member will redirect the discussion to the more formulaic, socially accepted story line of the “battered women” and the “abusive man”. The formula story talked about in this article is one that points to the accepted concept of gender in society. The gender binary we have says that men hare stronger, faster, bigger, taller, and smarter. The gender binary also says that women are delicate, vulnerable, passive, and weak. Therefore these formula stories that are so popular, practically encouraged, highlight the perceived differences between the genders and dramatize the role of the defenseless woman and the powerful aggressive male. In “Vunerability and Dangerousness The Construction of Gender through Conversation about Violnce” Hollander...
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...what failing. As men the power we should be aware of is feminine power over us. Any man who loves a woman is under her power; in most cases he is not aware of it. In this art work which was done by Picasso, I see the power of women over men. As men we think we stronger than women. We can do lot things that women cannot do. In fact, they have the power to make us do what they want us to do. Demoiselle is oil on canvas painting done by Picasso. In this art work, I see Picasso painting five ladies. The painting is for young ladies. Picasso painted the ladies in cubic form which was the modern way to pain at that time. By looking at the painting, you see that all the figures inside have almost the same face but different size of the body. In my opinion, the women body is what put pressure on the man. Most of strippers in clubs have a nice, beautiful body; men are attracted to the body more that the soul. If the woman has a nice body, she more likely to have the man does what she wants in order for him to have a piece of the cake. In the painting, Picasso had drawn the women body parts in different ways. This indicates the different parts of the body that man likes in general. Some man likes the legs, others like the boobs. At the end, the women body is what allowing her to control man. One element that attracted me the most is why Picasso painted all the figures with eyes looking straight at the person who’s looking at the painting. These shows how confident the woman...
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...Women will always find themselves chasing an elusive identity and dream unless they embrace who God made them to be according to the Bible. Women must come to accept their femininity. God has made them different purposefully. Physically, they are different, being generally weaker and crafted to bear and nurse children, and they have different emotional needs as well. Peter exhorts husbands to treat their wives in an understanding way because they are different, being women, and men need to understand this (1 Peter 3:7). Women must come to define womanhood based not on the culture or even what well-meaning Christians might assert but on the Word of God. The Bible says that a woman does well if she bears children (Psalm 128), and it doesn’t condemn a woman as inferior if she remains unmarried, does not have children, or cannot have children (Matthew 19:12). The Bible says that women should be workers at home (Titus 2:5), but it also allows for them to do profitable business ventures (Proverbs 31:16). The Biblical ideal is for men to provide for their families and for women to stay at home to raise the children. Unfortunately, this will not always work out perfectly, and both men and women need to be willing to adapt and be flexible and understanding. If it is possible for a mother to be with her children and raise them, then there is no Biblical reason to excuse her from not doing so. Though a stay at home mother might feel at times like she is...
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...example, women of the 19th century were primarily expected to marry and serve their husbands’ wishes, not receive an education, go out with friends, or find new forms of amusement. Instead, women were required to be at home and loyally obey their husbands. But how long can one go without exploring the inner intricacies of oneself? In her critical essay “Laugh of the Medusa”, Hélène Cixous looks upon the woman who “allows herself to be threatened by the big dick” (347) with contempt and scorn. Still, this intimidation that men have instilled in women is not easily overcome. Colette (1873-1954) and Jean Stubbs (1926- ) expose the risks that come with the discovery of a woman’s true desires in their short stories, “The Secret Woman” and “Cousin Lewis”. When the false woman is revealed, she suffers and is tormented by ridicule or shame even more than when she was in hiding. Cixous wants women to stand out and be who they are by embracing their bodies and being proud of their femininity. Women need to stop being reduced to “the servant of the militant male, his shadow” (338). “Laugh of the Medusa”, is a proclamation to women writers to “write about women and bring women to writing” (334) and to stop hating themselves and hating other women for being women- celebrate each other’s femininity and set free the body! Cixous wants women to make the world fear them though their identity and femininity; not fear the world because they are insignificant servants of the male. Women should not...
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...PROFESSIONS FOR WOMEN by Virginia Woolf “Professions for Women” is an abbreviated version of the speech Virginia Woolf delivered before a branch of the National Society for Women’s Service on January 21, 1931; it was published posthumously in The Death of the Moth and Other Essays. On the day before the speech, she wrote in her diary: “I have this moment, while having my bath, conceived an entire new book—a sequel to a Room of One’s Own—about the sexual life of women: to be called Professions for Women perhaps—Lord how exciting!” More than a year and a half later, on October 11, 1932, Virginia Woolf began to write her new book: “THE PARGITERS: An Essay based upon a paper read to the London/National Society for women’s service.” “The Pargiters” evolved into The Years and was published in 1937. The book that eventually did become the sequel to A Room of One’s Own was Three Guineas (1938), and its first working title was “Professions for Women.” The essay printed here concentrates on that Victorian phantom known as the Angel in the House (borrowed from Coventry Patmore’s poem celebrating domestic bliss)—that selfless, sacrificial woman in the nineteenth century whose sole purpose in life was to soothe, to flatter, and to comfort the male half of the world’s population. “Killing the Angel in the House,” wrote Virginia Woolf, “was part of the occupation of a woman writer.” That has proved to be a prophetic statement, for today, not only in the domain of letters, but in the entire...
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...further from what it seems. Henrik Ibsen, the writer of Hedda Gabler, seems to not be telling us the personal story of the woman Hedda Tesman, but showing us the faults of society for that time period in terms of the roles of women. “The Trapped Woman”, is a term I will use to describe the role of “The Woman” in the late 19th Century. Henrik Ibsen appears to be showing us through Hedda’s life that no matter the apparent strength or background of a woman during the 19th century, they are still trapped in a way which forbids them to be who they truly are. Hedda Tesman, as described early on in the play, due to her background and personality, should in no way be anything but in complete control over her life. As stated by Aunt Julle, “General Gabler’s daughter. What a life she had in the general’s day!” (Ibsen). This statement in the beginning of the play almost immediately foreshadows her unhappy life in her current state. Due to the roles of women for that time period, she is just the representation of all women in her situation at the time. Women in the 19th century had very minimal rights. When a woman becomes married, the rights of woman are immediately given to their spouse, which in Hedda’s case is Jürgen Tesman. One can make the assumption that for women in the 19th century, marriage is actually closely related so slavery, in that the woman is owned by the man, in every way possibly (Buckner). Hedda’s character shows us of a woman seemingly aware of these truths, and...
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...Sexualization of Girls and Women in the United States: A Growing Epidemic Kayla Johnson Chamberlain College of Nursing Sexualization of Girls and Women in the United States: A Growing Epidemic Brittany, a freshman in High School arrives at her home after school and turns on the T.V to watch MTV music videos. She watches the T.V. as half naked girls dance in the background of male singers. She picks up her phone to get on Instagram where she scrolls through images of famous women like Rhianna and Kim Kardashian who post scantily clad images of their bodies. Brittany thinks to herself, “I wish that I looked like these girls, maybe if I looked more like them the boys at school would like me more”. Brittany’s mother gets home from work and puts dinner on the dining room table. Brittany sits down and eats only a portion of her meal because in the back of her mind she is still feeling as though her own body is inadequate, she could probably lose more weight and if only she had bigger boobs and longer legs, maybe then she would feel better about herself. She lies in bed that night and wishes that she had a better body so that she could feel beautiful and happy. If only she knew that thousands of other girls were feeling the same way, maybe she would realize that the issue isn’t her own body- the issue is the cultural emphasis on female sexualization that has become a norm in our society. Unfortunately girls all over the world are struggling with self-confidence related to...
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...Andrew Herrick ENGL1304 Rolater Fall 2014 The Beauty Within “How to Love” is a song and music video by Lil Wayne. The video depicts the life choices of one woman, the causes and effects of these choices, and ultimately, how they impact her life. “How to Love” centers around the issue of low self-esteem that many young women face, due to sexism and a lack of love for their personalities versus their bodies. This video serves as a message of awareness, to both men and women, about how deeply harmful sexist abuse can be. “How to Love” begins in a hospital operating room, where a young woman is waiting to undergo an abortion. The opening scene sets the serious tone for the video and serves as foreshadowing for later on, during her daughter’s portrayal of life. The young woman has a swift change of heart and flees the hospital in tears. This is the first example of a choice being made that greatly impacts one’s life. Her daughter is now an infant and sits crying in a baby carrier while watching her mother and father entangled in a physically and verbally abusive ordeal; which clearly shows sexism in the form of domestic violence. The video progresses and the infant is now a young girl who is visiting her father at a prison; which clearly shows the audience that he is not a good man. Fast-forward again, and the audience is presented with the young girl as a pre-teen, being molested by one of her mother’s lovers. This scene and the lyrics, “you can’t have a man look at you...
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...Ciara Pepper 05 Nov. 15 English 101 Eilene Myers The Monkey Garden Aging promotes the loss of childhood and innocence. Little girls go from skinned knees and imaginary friends, to running around in their pantyhose and hanging out with their boyfriends. In Sandra Cisneros', "The Monkey Garden", she addresses the emotions that occur during this drastic transition through the view of herself as a little girl. Esperanza tries her best to avoid what is renegade against the normal expectations of women. Esperanza's overwhelmed tone reveals her fear and doggedness to adversity when Sally's game defiles the garden's innocence/purity, exposing Esperanza to the realization that she cannot remain a kid forever. Esperanza's syntax reveals that innocence is irrevocable. Reminiscing of the Monkey Garden,...
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...Kristen Ngan is the name. The type of girl who is very adventurous, creative, “kikay”, loves collecting girly things, fashion and colors! I can say that every object in my plate, symbolizes me or my personality. The “Pink Shoe” and the “Pearl Bracelet” represents Fashion. I've always had a 'Passion For Fashion’. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been reading fashion and beauty magazines. I was always wondering how women could bring out the best in themselves. In fashion, my biggest inspirations are definitely Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Gabrielle Chanel. They show the difference between a woman and a lady. In my free time I like to read fashion magazines, fashion and beauty blogs. I love to surf the internet to look up all sorts of fashion online shops. Not just to see what’s new, but to get inspired as well. Being involved into “fashion” is really a big thing for me. Because in that way i help myself increase my self-esteem. My interest in fashion started at a young age. I enjoyed spending my days alone playing with my Barbies. I repurposed their clothes with a stapler and tape and gave them haircuts to match their look. The “Green Ribbon” represents how girly I am. The “Red Nail Polish”. When I became a teenager, like I said, I love colors! and so I’ve been very addicted to nail polish. Its just I’m so plain, without them. And I really take good care of my nails. Also, believed in the saying “Nails Are Like Jewels, Don't Use Them Like Tools”. The “MAC...
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...woman’s hero in her time because she was all about women having equality. She spent five years researching a book dealing with what she called the “problem with no name”. This excerpt gives a general view on how she felt as a woman who took a back seat to her own life to become the “American House Wife”. She discuss how women would try to make themselves believe that being the good wife was what you had to be and living behind the shadows of a man was acceptable. In this document Friedan wants people to know exactly what occurred during the feminist movement. How women's rights came to a reality, how women believed there was only one role to have which is a typical housewife that has a husband to overpower her. Not being able to vote, or have any rights as an equal to men. This means father not mother, children of both sexes needed to learn, recognize and respect the abilities and functions of each sex. No matter what, the men were in charge. Next, Friedan discussed how women where brought up believing when they grow up, they are to marry and have children. Going to college is what is a woman had to do, but graduating wasn’t required. Being well educated is shown to be unfeminine. Men didn't enjoy a woman knowing information they knew. Men wanted women uneducated, men were supposed to be the only one educated in the household. The role of women was to find a husband to support the family that they would raise. Many women dropped out of college or never went in the first...
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