Violence and Women

   

      We've created a culture that promotes violence against women, this breeds a belief within women that they are inferior or "less than." In turn this creates a false sense of justification for the violence and perpetuates the cycle. 

      When people hear the word "violence" they think about a person being physically injured, but violence can be verbal, mental, or emotional. Initiating a rumor, threatening, or causing distress can be as detrimental, or even more detrimental than physical injury. The term 'violence,' for the sake of this paper will encompass any and all actions perpetrated against a person or persons with intent to cause physical, mental, or emotional harm. 

      Human beings have a tendency to look the other way when it comes to violence, and in so doing, pass that behavior on to the next generation. I think the most popular statement in this situation is, "oh well that's their culture." (Bunch) There is a sort of invisible line when it comes to what we perceive as a persons culture, that line tells us "beyond this point lies the core of who someone is, and you have no right to challenge it." This mentality makes us complicit in the violence. (Bunch) I really liked Charlotte Bunch's explanation saying that, "culture is not something to be preserved but should evolve," (Bunch). She also mentioned that people see culture in a formal matter, "big C" when in reality every single thing that surrounds us helps build our personal cultures, "little c" (Bunch). This means that each one of us has the opportunity to change and shape the culture around us and with opportunity comes responsibility.

      It's important when examining this issue to remember that it isn't taking place in a lab; this is taking place in the real world and it's not just one group that is affected. Jackson Katz did an amazing job of explaining how the dominant group sometimes gets looked over (Katz). The word gender causes people to think "woman," the words sexual orientation causes people to think "gay" or "lesbian". When in all reality men and straight people are included in those terms (Katz). Though women may be the largest target in sheer numbers when it comes to gender/sexuality based violence, by addressing the problem at large, we can reduce violence for all groups. 

      Speaking of sexual orientation, Cynthia Rothschild brought something to my attention that I never really considered, that women, who are looked down upon to begin with have it even harder when they come out as lesbian (Rothschild). That is two levels of "different" that sometimes people don't understand or don't think of them as equals and it can make it even harder and scarier to stand up for what you think is the right or standing up for yourself in violent situations (Rothschild). 

      Violence against women, and by extension, other minority groups, causes a snowball effect of cultural bias. Women are abused, so it must be that they are inferior, if they are inferior, then they are worthy of abuse. This type of thinking stifles creativity, talent, and ambition creating a self fulfilling prophecy that perpetuates itself. Only by ending the cycle of violence can we create an environment wherein women are comfortable to be their whole selves, to reach out, to take a risk, to enter an arena they may otherwise not. In short, a system of violence crushes the proverbial soul and without fulfilled souls, a person, regardless of gender cannot even attempt equal participation in modern life, let alone achieve it. 

References

Bunch, Charlotte. "Intersection between culture and violence against women." CWGL. Rutgers, Aug 2008. Speech.

Katz, Jackson. "Violence against women, it's a men's issue...." TedX. May 2013. Speech.

Rothschild, Cynthia. "Violence against women based on gender identity and sexuality." CWGL. Rutgers, Aug 2008. Speech.