Sexism -- is division of labor the key?

[jenny_ravenclaw]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "naamagatus" <naama_gat at h...> wrote:
 
> Do you suggest that a battered woman sits and waits until her 
> husband/boyfriend has a change of heart?>

No, of course I don't suggest that.  Why would anyone?

>A woman must be able to dissociate herself from an abusive 
husband/boyfriend. I'm not talking only about leaving him, but also 
about pressing charges against him. If a woman is economically 
dependent on her mate, if she knows that without him she and her 
children will starve, she will remain in an abusive relationship. She 
will neither take steps herself (like leaving him) nor call in the 
assistence of the law.>

There is no one answer to why so many women stay with abusive 
husbands/partners.  Economic independence is one of several things 
that can help a woman walk away.  Education is another.  The law is a 
third.  It is very difficult for women to press charges against 
abusive partners.  Restraining orders are not always effective, and 
jail sentences are few and far between.  Many abusive men actually go 
after their partners after they have left.  I can't imagine how 
terrifying that must be, or how helpless that would make me feel, 
especially if I thought the law would not help me enough to get that 
man away from me permanently.

> Human nature being what it is, I simply don't believe that educating  
men is any kind of solution. There will always be bullies and sadists. 
There will always be people who take advantage and exploit those 
weaker than them. The only effective way to decrease bullyism is to 
minimise the opportunities for it. In the case of women abuse, this 
means empowering women - through legal *and* economic means.>

I also think anger management, mediation and conflict resolution 
should be a part of every junior high school and high school 
curriculum.  Too many of my students think that smacking someone good 
and hard is the way to solve problems.  They think this way when it 
comes to a disagreement with someone in the classroom, in the street 
or in the home.  They think a child who receives a good "beating" is 
more likely to behave better the next time around.  Both boys and 
girls in my classes don't seem to make any effort to control their 
hands when it comes to anger.  These same kids grow up to have 
professions related to the law; would you want one of these people to 
respond to a domestic violence call in your neighborhood?  I wouldn't 
(and I really like my students!). 

--jenny from ravenclaw ***************