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Capsule endoscopy next Tuesday. Blimey!

They Just Don't Get It

Here's an entry from my proto-blog, "Kate Almanac", dated 9 July 2000.

In June this year, I visited relatives in Washington DC. I packed my passport, my swimsuit - and a list of references to look up at the Library of Congress. Despite plundering university and local libraries around the world, there were still a handful of citations I hadn't been able to track down. I got the call numbers from the LC's Web page. But what I didn't get was an idea of just how difficult it was going to be to get my paws on that short list of research goodies.

One of my targets: a copy of Lenore Walker's 1979 classic, The Battered Woman. Surprisingly, I hadn't been able to find it anywhere. And all I wanted was to check one reference, a supposedly man-hating remark much quoted on the net. Here it is, as it appeared on the Men's Issues Page:

One of Lenore Walker's examples from her classic book The Battered Woman(NY: Harper Colophon Books, 1979, p. 98) says

"There is also no doubt that she began to assault Paul physically before he assaulted her. However, it is also clear from the rest of her story that Paul had been battering her by ignoring her and working late, in order to move up the corporate ladder, for the entire five years of their marriage."

So, the message Walker gives to women is: if your husband is working late, trying to support his dependents, just SLUG HIM if you don't like this. You're the victim, not him, and we will back you up 100%.

What a shocking thing for Walker say! In fact, it's so shocking that I've always suspected that her meaning had been distorted - in order to make anti-domestic violence activists look like villains who trivialise violence against men. You won't be surprised to hear that my suspicion was right. But first, I had to get my hands on that book.

( The story continues... )