Degendering the Problem and Gendering the Blame: Political Discourse on Women and

Violence
Author(s): Nancy Berns
Source: Gender and Society, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Apr., 2001), pp. 262-281
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
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 DEGENDERING THE PROBLEM
AND GENDERING THE BLAME
Political Discourse on
Womenand Violence

NANCYBERNS
Drake University

Thisarticle describespolitical discourseon domesticviolence thatobscuresmen's violencewhile plac-

ing the burdenof responsibilityon women.Thisperspective, which the author calls patriarchalresis-
tance, challenges afeminist constructionof theproblem.Usinga qualitativeanalysis of men'sandpolit-
ical magazines, the author describes two main discursivestrategies used in the resistance discourse:
degenderingtheproblemand genderingthe blame. Thesestrategiesplay a central role in resistingany
attemptsto situate social problemswithina patriarchalframework.It is argued that this is a political
countermovementto thefeminist constructionsof domestic violence as opposed to a serious concern
about women's violence and male victims. Threemajor implicationsthis resistancediscourse has are
the normalizationof intimateviolence, the diversionof attentionfrom men's responsibilityand cultural
and structuralfactors thatfoster violence, and the distortionof women'sviolence.

It is time to pay attentionto those who say they get PlayboyandPenthouse"forthe

articles."Althoughbest knownfor theirnudepictures,bothof these popularmen's
magazines contain political commentarythat reaches millions of readers-more
thanthose of obviously political magazineslike the conservativeNational Review
and its liberalcounterpartTheNew Republic.Despite differencesin packaging,all
of these magazinesareremarkablysimilarwhen it comes to the problemof domes-
tic violence. They reframedomesticviolence in a way thatobscuresmen's violence
while placing the burdenof responsibilityon women.This perspective,which I call
patriarchalresistance,can also be foundin books, talkshows, the Internet,political
debate,classrooms,courtrooms,andeverydayconversation.On the basis of a case
study of one medium-political and men's magazines-I describe the two main
discursive strategies of this perspective-degendering the problem of domestic

AUTHOR'SNOTE:I wouldlike to thankDavid Schweingruber,JohnLie,NormDenzin,MadonnaHar-

rington Meyer, Jackie Litt, Hal Pepinsky,and Ann Herda-Rappfor their helpful comments on this
research. Thanksalso to the anonymousreviewersat Gender& Society.
REPRINTREQUESTS:Nancy Berns, 120 HowardHall, Departmentof Sociology, Drake University,
Des Moines, IA 50311; e-mail: nancy.berns@drake.edu.

GENDER& SOCIETY, Vol.15No. 2, April2001 262-281

? 2001SociologistsforWomenin Society

262
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 263

violence and gendering the blame-and discuss their implications for the fight
againstdomestic violence.
The discourseanalyzedin this articleis an exampleof whatFaludi(1991, xviii)
describesas a "backlash"to the feministmovement:"apowerfulcounter-assaulton
women's rights,a backlash,an attemptto retractthe handfulof small andhard-won
victories that the feminist movement did manage to win for women."Numerous
social issues have been framedwithin a backlashdiscourse,includingthe "libera-
tion" of violent women offenders,women's fear of success, infertility,the break-
down of the family, delinquentyouth, and tension and conflict between spouses
(Chesney-Lind 1999; Faludi 1991; Mednick 1989; Staggenborg 1998; Wood
1999). Accordingto the backlashdiscourse,these problemsareactuallya resultof
the women's movement.
Attackson the battered-womenmovement'sconstructionof domestic violence
arenot new.The movementinitiallyconstructedthe problemas a resultof a cultural
and structuralsystem of genderdiscrimination-a patriarchalsystem thatincludes
other forms of violence and discriminationagainst women (Gordon 1988; Pleck
1987). Political oppositionto the battered-womenmovementintensifiedin the late
1970s because of its attemptsto demystify the patriarchalunderpinningsof vio-
lence againstwomen. Local communitiesand governmentagencies were not com-
fortablewith the political argumentthatwife beating was a result of a patriarchal
society (Dobash and Dobash 1992; Gordon1988; Pleck 1987). To secure funding
for sheltersandotherservicesfor victims,manysheltersandbattered-womenactiv-
ists de-emphasized their feminist politics. Clinical language, psychotherapeutic
intervention,and professional social workersthat focused almost exclusively on
victims' personalneeds took overmanyof the shelters.Attentionwas divertedfrom
the abusersandfromculturalandstructuralfactorsthatfostereddomesticviolence.
The dominantfocus on victims, not abusers,was quite differentfrom the earlier
child abuse movement, as illustratedby congressionalhearings. "In the hearings
aboutchild abuse, witnesses triedto explain why parentsabusedtheirchildren;in
the hearingsaboutwife abuse,expertsgavereasonswhy batteredwomen were will-
ing to be beaten"(Pleck 1987, 195). Motivationsandcharacteristicsof wife abusers
were not discussed.
Analyzingpopularrepresentationsof social problemsis importantbecauseindi-
viduals draw on these sources when constructingtheir understandingsof issues
such as violence against women. The media are perhapsthe most dominantand
most frequently used resources for understandingsocial issues (Gamson 1992;
Kellner1995). The mediaculture"helpsshapeeverydaylife, influencinghow peo-
ple thinkandbehave,how they see themselvesandotherpeople, andhow they con-
structtheir identities"(Kellner 1995, 2). Newspapercolumns, magazine articles,
films, made-for-TVmovies, television specialreports,andtalkshows areall public
arenas where images of domestic violence are constructed,debated, and repro-
duced.Fromthese resources,individualsconstructtheirown conceptionsof whatis
normal and acceptable. These conceptions, what Cicourel (1968) calls "back-
groundexpectancies,"govern all social interaction.The backgroundexpectancies
264 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

enable individuals"to searchfor 'valid' explanationsof 'whathappened'andjus-

tify decisions" (Cicourel 1968, 53). Numerousstudies illustratehow media repre-
sentationsandpopularculturedistortimages of social issues such as crimeandvio-
lence (e.g., Beckett and Sasson 2000; Best 1999; Brownstein2000; Ferrell and
Websdale 1999; Fishmanand Cavender1998; Jenkins 1994; Potterand Kappeler
1996).
Because individualsuse the mediato makesense of social problems,it is impor-
tantto understandhow these media constructimages of an issue. The construction
of a problemis importantbecauseit locates notjust the cause of a problembutalso
its solution (Best 1995). Although there are often competing perspectiveson the
same problem, one particularperspectiveoften gains dominance in a discourse.
Foucault(1979) arguesthatthe power to controlknowledge allows one to control
the dominantdiscourse on issues-thus silencing alternativeperspectives.Several
studies of discourse and social problems,includingdomestic violence, have dem-
onstratedthis claim (e.g., Beckett 1996; Cicourel 1968; Foucault 1979; Loseke
1992).
This case studyis partof a largerprojecton domestic violence in popularmedia
andpopulardiscourse.I focus on politicalandmen's magazineshere becausetheir
coverageis dominatedby the patriarchal-resistance perspective.Aftera description
of my method and sources, I addressthreemainpoints. First,I illustratehow these
magazines resist the battered-womenmovement's constructionof domestic vio-
lence by employing two main discursivestrategies:degenderingthe problemand
gendering the blame. Second, I argue that this perspectiveis a political counter-
movementto feministconstructionsof domesticviolence, not anexpressionof seri-
ous concern about women's violence and male victims. Third, I lay out several
implicationsthis patriarchalresistancediscoursehas on the fight againstdomestic
violence.

METHOD AND SOURCES

Although qualitativeresearchincludes a wide varietyof concepts and methods

(Denzin andLincoln 1994), I base my interpretiveapproachon criticaltheory.Crit-
ical theory works for the empowermentof oppressedindividuals;confrontsinjus-
tice; andis transformative,political, andemancipatoryin nature(Giddens 1993). It
is taking the sociological imaginationseriously-shifting from local and discrete
instances of phenomenato their broadersocial context (Kincheloe and McLaren
1994). In this qualitative analysis, I investigate how magazine articles portray
domestic violence. In particular,I focus on whereresponsibilityis assigned for the
causes andsolutionsfor the problem.The articlesplace responsibilityexplicitly,by
making claims about causes and solutions, or implicitly,by including some facts
about a case while excluding others.
This studyanalyzedarticlesthatfocus on domesticviolence publishedin maga-
zines categorizedas "political"or "men's"between 1970 and 1999. The political
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 265

magazines (with numberof articles) are National Review (9), The New Republic
(5), andReason (2). The men's magazinesare Gentlemen'sQuarterly(1), Esquire
(2), Men's Journal (1), New Man (2), Penthouse(10), and Playboy (4). I do not
addressherearticlespublishedin TheNation andTheProgressive,two progressive
political magazines thattypically use a feminist frameworkin their articles about
domestic violence.
For this study,domestic violence is definedas physical, sexual, and/orpsycho-
logical abusethatoccurs betweentwo adultsin an intimaterelationshipregardless
of maritalstatusor sexual orientation.1Althoughchildrenare certainlyvictims of
domestic violence, I did notincludearticlesthatfocusedexclusively on child abuse.
The time frameof 1970-99 covers articlesintroducedafterthe rise of the battered-
women movement.Until the late 1970s, the mediaused the termdomesticviolence
to refer to riots and terrorism(Tierney 1982). Even after the early 1970s, articles
were listed undertopics such as quarrelingand conjugal violence so I conducted
broadsearcheson two periodicalindexes,the Reader'sGuideto PeriodicalsIndex
and Access. Additionalarticles were found in some magazines not listed in these
indexesthroughissue-by-issueexaminationsof these magazinesand/orcorrespon-
dence with the magazine'seditors.
In this article, I describe a patriarchal-resistance
perspective.Of the articles in
this study, 81 percentuse this perspectivein theirportrayalof domestic violence.
The overwhelmingmajorityof the men's andpoliticalarticleson domesticviolence
appearedin the 1990s. Only one article was publishedin the 1970s, which was a
story in Esquire on domestic violence duringthe Christmasseason. Five articles
were publishedin the mid-1980s:one in Playboy,one in NationalReview,andthree
in Penthouse.The remainingarticles, 82 percent,were published in the 1990s. I
argue that most men's and political magazines were not interestedin publishing
articles on domestic violence duringthe 1970s and early 1980s when the public's
discovery of the problemwas still relativelynew. However,when battered-women
advocatesbeganmakingsignificantprogressin gainingmediaattentionandchang-
ing legislation to help victims of abuse, the men's and political magazines
responded.Therefore,most of the articlesappearin the 1990s. Also, in particular,
the 0. J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson, and the Lorena and John Bobbitt
cases duringthe mid-1990s inspiredmany of the articlesin these magazines.

DEGENDERING THE PROBLEM

Feminist constructionsof domestic violence emphasizethe role of gender and

power in abusiverelationships,includingthe fact thatthe overwhelmingmajority
of victims are women. The first major strategyof the patriarchal-resistancedis-
course is to reframethe problemas "humanviolence."By removing gender from
the framing of the problem, this perspectiveunderminesthe role of gender and
powerin abusiverelationships.Thisdiscursivestrategy,whichI referto as degendering
the problem,plays a centralrole in resistinganyattemptsto situatesocial problems
266 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

within a patriarchalframework.Domestic violence is not the only formof violence

that is degendered by critics of feminist constructions.Typical cases of men's
everydayviolence againstintimatesand acquaintances,includingrapeand incest,
are obscuredin the media by sensationalizingless common "strangerabuse"and
"sick rapists"(Caringella-MacDonald1998; Meyers 1997; Smart 1989; Soothill
and Walby 1991; Websdale 1999). "Mediaportrayalsof rape are in these ways
hegemonic, buttressingthe patriarchythatundergirdsstructuralinequalityandsex-
ism and the rampantrapethatthese engender"(Caringella-MacDonald1998, 63).
In the case of domestic violence, where strangersare obviously not involved,
humanviolence takes the place of "strangerdanger"as a rhetoricaltool for divert-
ing attentionfrom men's everydayviolence.
The theme of humanviolence is commonin men's andpoliticalmagazines.For
example,

Domesticviolenceis neithera malenora femaleissue-it's simplya humanissue.

(Penthouse,Brott 1993, 40)

Domesticviolenceis neithersolely a men'snora women'sissue. Bothsexes are

involvedinprovoking
andcausinginjurytoeachother.(Penthouse,
Siller1996,22)
Domesticviolenceis notaneither-orphenomenon.It is noteithertheman'sfaultor
thewoman's.Itis aboth-and
problem.(Playboy,ShervenandSniechowski 1994,45)

Although these articles often give examples of female violence to supportthe

human violence argument,they rely mostly on official statistics and sociological
studies to defend their argument-especially Gelles's and Straus's research on
domestic violence. In her articlefor TheNew Republic,KatherineDunn (1994, 16)
accuses the media and "advocacygroups"of abusingdomestic violence statistics
because they state thatwomen are the majorityof abuse victims. She claims: "We
are not being told the truthaboutdomesticviolence. Forstarters,it is nowherenear
as extensive as the mediais claiming."She arguesthatthese statisticsarewrongand
cites studies such as StrausandGelles (1995) thatgive differentnumbers.She uses
this researchto arguethatmen and women are equally violent:

StrausandGellesaretwoof themanyresearcherswhohavefounddomesticviolence
distributed
equallybetweenthe sexes.In abouthalfthe casesof mutualbattering,
womenweretheinstigators-theoneswhoslapped,sluggedorswungweaponsfirst.
(Dunn1994,16)

The same strategy and sources illustratedin Dunn's New Republic article are
repeated in Playboy, Penthouse, and National Review. In Playboy's "Women are
Responsible, Too,"JudithShervenandJames Sniechowski(1994, 45) cite several
studiesthatshow women andmen areequallyviolent. They begin the list of studies
with the wordfacts:
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 267

Half of spousal murdersare committedby wives, a statisticthathas been stable over

time.

The findingsof the 1985 NationalFamily Violence Survey ... revealedthatwomen

and men physically abuse each otherin roughlyequal numbers.

While 1.8 million women annuallysufferedone or more assaultsfrom a husbandor

boyfriend, slightly more than 2 million men were assaultedby a wife or girlfriend,
accordingto a 1985 study on U.S. family violence publishedin the Journalof Mar-
riage and the Family.
Social Work:Journalof theNationalAssociationof Social Workersfoundin 1986 that
among teenagerswho date, girls were violent more frequentlythanboys.

Mothersabuse theirchildrenat a rate approachingtwice thatof fathers.

Two years later in 1996, Sidney Siller repeats this list of facts, with a few minor
changes, in his Penthouse column. Other authors use Gelles's and Straus's research on
domestic violence along with other studies to arguethatwomen are as violent as men.

The same surveythatfoundthata womanis beatenevery 15 seconds also foundthata

man is batteredevery 14 seconds. This researchindicates that 54 per cent of all
"severe"domestic violence is committed by women. (National Review, McElroy
1995, 74)

Arguing that men and women are equally violent is the most significant and fre-
quent strategy used for degendering the problem. Therefore, it is important to point
out how their use of sociological research is distorted. This perspective ignores crit-
icisms of Gelles's and Straus's research, Gelles's (1997) and Straus's (1993) own
warnings about the misinterpretations and misuses of their research, and other
research that contradicts the sexual-symmetry perspective.
Critics of Gelles's and Straus's research attack the argument that men and
women are equally harmed by physical violence in marriages. They argue that
Gelles and Straus failed to look at the amount of women's violence that was in
self-defense and at the extent of injuries for men and women (Saunders 1988). Per-
haps in response to these criticisms, Straus and Gelles have acknowledged that the
results from their study can be misleading because the Conflict Tactics Scales used
to gather the data did not measure the purpose of the violence or the injuries result-
ing from assaults (Gelles 1997; Straus 1993). Gelles (1997, 93) criticizes those who
take the data on battered men out of context:

Unfortunately,almostall of those who tryto makethe case thatthereareas manybat-

teredmen as batteredwomen tend to omit or reduceto a parentheticalphrasethe fact
thatno matterhow muchviolence thereis or who initiatesthe violence, women areas
much as 10 times more likely than men to be injuredin acts of domestic violence.
Thus, althoughthe data... show similarratesof hitting,when injuryis considered,
maritalviolence is primarilya problemof victimized women.
268 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

Even though Strausand Gelles (1995) maintainthat women may be violent in

the home, they agreethatwomen sustainmorephysicalinjury,lose moretime from
work, and require more medical care. Furthermore,Gelles's, Straus's, and
Steinmetz's survey data focus on counting acts of violence and do not consider
otherstrategiesof controland intimidationsuch as psychological, sexual, and ver-
bal abuse and the use of threatsagainstchildren,relatives,and pets.
The sex-symmetry perspective also relies heavily on Steinmetz's (1977a,
1977b, 1978) articles abouta "batteredhusbandsyndrome."Her articlesreceived
media coveragein the late 1970s andreoccurringmediacoveragein the late 1980s
and the 1990s as fuel for the backlash against the battered-womenmovement.
Steinmetz(1977a) claimed thather studyindicatedthat250,000 husbandsare bat-
teredby theirwives each year.Criticschallenge Steinmetz'sfigureof 250,000 bat-
tered husbands because she found no battered husbands-but four battered
wives-in her study of 57 couples (Pagelow 1984; Straton1997). Steinmetzcom-
paredthe results of her study to police reportsof 26 cases in which two of the vic-
tims were husbands.On the basis of this comparison,she arguedthatonly 1 out of
270 cases of abuse is reported.Therefore,since there were two police reportsof
husbandabuse,therecould havebeen 540 incidentsof husbandbattering.She gen-
eralized from this numberto 250,000-a numberthatthen exploded to 12 million
in the media (Jones 1980; Pagelow 1984; Straton1997).
The argumentthatmen andwomen areequallyviolent in the home ignores con-
tradictoryresearchthatindicates thatthe majorityof victims are women (Dobash
et al. 1992). Researchanalysesof police reports,courtrecords,crimevictimization
surveys, and other surveys reveal that the overwhelmingmajorityof victims are
women (e.g., Berk et al. 1983; Brush 1990; Dobash and Dobash 1979; Gaquin
1977-78; Schwartz 1987). Dobash and Dobash's (1998) recent researchindicates
thatmen underestimatethe perpetrationof theirown violence, while women over-
estimate their own violence and its consequences. They conclude that empirical
andtheoreticalapproachesto domesticviolence musttakeinto accountthe fact that
men and women interprettheirvictimizationandtheirperpetrationof violence dif-
ferentlyand thatan understandingof domestic violence must be locatedwithinthe
broadercontext of otherintimidationand controlstrategiesand the genderedcon-
text in which they occur.
Anotherstrategyemployed by magazinesusing the patriarchal-resistance strat-
egy is to have female authorswrite manyof the humanviolence articles.Women's
voices have been used before to resist feminist constructionsof social problems
(Ussher 1997). When KatherineRoiphe (1993) introducedher argumentagainst
date rape, newspapers,magazines, and variousinterest groups used her voice to
fuel their own criticisms of the antirapemovement.Although Playboy and Pent-
house relied mostly on male authors,TheNew Republic,NationalReview,andRea-
son used female authors in key articles. In 1992, The New Republic used Jean
Elshtain to challenge the battered-womansyndromedefense in her article "Bat-
tered Reason."Elshtain argues that the feminist movement is playing the victim
 Berns/ POLITICALDISCOURSEON VIOLENCE 269

card and abusing the justice system. Dunn (1994) employed most of the patriar-
chal-resistancestrategiesin her New Republicarticletitled "TruthAbuse."In the
same year, CathyYoungwrote a strikinglysimilararticlefor the National Review
titled "AbusedStatistics."Youngalso publisheda majorarticlein 1998 for Reason
that attacks the battered-womenmovement. In 1995, the National Review used
WendyMcElroy to write about"TheUnfairSex."McElroy(1995, 74) attacksthe
women's movementfor "pushingimages of women as victims and men as beasts"
and "usingthe issues of domestic violence andrapeto create a new jurisprudence
thatassesses guilt andimposes punishmentbasedon gender."McElroyarguesthat
the battered-womenmovementabuses the justice system and unfairlyprosecutes
men. Using women's voices is criticalfor legitimatingthis perspective.By having
bothmen andwomen advocatingthis frame,the issue of genderis furtherremoved
from the discourse.

GENDERING THE BLAME

Although the patriarchal-resistanceperspectiveframes domestic violence as a

humanissue and arguesthatwomen andmen areequally violent, when it comes to
discussing responsibilityfor ending abuse, the focus is the culpabilityof women.
Thus, although violence is degendered,blame is gendered. Previous studies on
media constructions of violence against women provide other examples of
gendered blame. For instance, popularwomen's magazines frame domestic vio-
lence in a way thatnormalizesthe victim's responsibilitywhile ignoringthe role of
the abuserandof society (Berns 1999). Similarresistanceoccursin othermediaand
cultures. A mainstreamAustraliannewspaperused "strategiesof recuperation"
when reportingon men's violence againstwomen (Howe 1999). By using editorial
disclaimers,the articleminimizedmen's responsibilityanddistancedits own view
fromfeminists.The effect of these editorialstrategieswas to position its critiqueof
men's violence againstwomen within"hegemonicnarrativesof genderrelationsin
which women acquiesce in domestic violence, feminists vilify men, and men as a
group are much-malignedand not to be held accountablefor the behavior of a
small, aberrant minority" (Howe 1999, 153). The four main strategies for
gendering the blame are (1) highlighting women who are abusers, (2) holding
female victims responsiblefor theirrole in their own victimization,(3) critiquing
the social tolerancefor women's violence butnot for men's violence, and(4) blam-
ing battered-womenadvocates.

"WomenAre Responsible,Too":Womenas Victimsand Abusers

One of the mainthemesthatthe men's andpoliticalmagazinearticlesput forthis
thatwomen are not as innocentas they are usually portrayed-and men are not as
evil. A quote from Penthouseillustratesthis theme:
270 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

In the fight against domestic violence, men are almost always presumedguilty. The
image of the batteredwomanis a firmone in the Americanmind.The printandelec-
tronic media portraymen as brutalperpetratorsof domestic violence, while at the
same time depicting women as sympathetic,innocent victims. (Siller 1996, 22)

In his March 1996 column, Asa Baber uses the 0. J. and Nicole Simpson case as an
example of this innocence versus evil campaign:

The cant from the feminist community has been: Men alone are vile abusers;the
women they bully are blameless prisoners.ThroughoutO.J. and Nicole's marriage
(and aftertheirdivorce),he was nothingbut a cad andbrute,while she was an angel.
Complex human interactions?There were none. It is time for us to challenge this
superficialanalysis. (Playboy, Baber 1996, 33)

Articles using this theme challenge women's innocence by employing the first two
gendering strategies: highlighting women who are abusers (and arguing that they
are at least as violent as men) and holding female victims responsible for their role
in their own victimization.
Although the argument that women are as violent as men relies heavily on socio-
logical statistics and research as described above, some articles include examples to
illustrate female violence against men. Brott points out that not all men are physi-
cally stronger than women as the stereotype would have it. He uses the following
example to illustrate the physical abuse women can exert:

But not all men are bigger than their wives. On one occasion, Stanley,whose wife
weighed more than200 pounds,locked himself in his car to keep her from attacking
him. She managedto get in anyway.Once inside she shoved him face down into the
passengerseat andjumped on him, puttingher knees in his back. He reachedfor the
cellular phone to call for help, but she wrestledit away from him andhit him several
times on the side of the head with it. (Penthouse,Brott 1993, 32)

In her New Republic article, Dunn gives examples of female violence that failed to
trigger a national discussion of how dangerous female abusers can be. Here is one
of those examples:

Let us note that on February22, MariaMontalvo,a registerednurse in New Jersey,

punishedherhusbandfor moving out aftershe hadassaultedhim. She drovetheirtwo
preschoolchildrento herhusband'sparents'house, wherehe was staying,andparked
the car out front. She then doused the toddlers with gasoline and set them on fire.
(1994, 16)

Asa Baber, the writer of Playboy's "Men" column, often discusses his own victim-
ization as an example of female violence:

I lived with a woman who physically abusedme. It didn't startout thatway. Like all
romances,it beganoptimistically,butsomethingsoured,andherresponseto whatshe
soon considered my unacceptable presence was to go on the attack. She raged,
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 271

slapped,kicked,scratched,hit. Once, I woke up with a knife in the mattressbeside me.

(Playboy,Baber 1986, 29)

This perspectivearguesthatthere are as many male victims as female victims

because of the mutual violence between men and women. However, the female
abusersare highlightedin all these articleswhile the male abusersare practically
ignored.And interestingly,althoughthe authorsseem to believe thatmen arejust as
likely to be victims, they arerarelydiscussed. The articlesfocus on women's vio-
lence but not on the needs of male victims. When the authorsturntheirattentionto
victims, it is in the contextof female victims andtheirrole in the abuse.The female
victims are criticized in these articles for not leaving because they may actually
enjoy the relationshiptoo much, denying their own role in the "danceof mutual
destructiveness"andnot protectingotherpeople. Furthermore,articlesin TheNew
Republic and National Review downplay both the severity and extent of female
victimization.
StantonPeele suggests thatbatteredwomen do not leave a relationshipbecause
they like the "intensityof their spouses' feelings."

Quite often, the abuse victims and the men they kill seem to have been involved in
consensual relationships,from which the women derivedbasic emotional gratifica-
tion.The womenrefusedto leave the relationshipswhengiven a realopportunityto do
so because they welcomed the intensity of their spouses' feelings. (Reason, Peele
1991, 40)

A 1988NationalRevieweditorialused the case of HeddaNussbaum,Joel Steinberg,

andLisa Steinbergto arguethatHeddastayedin the abusiverelationshipbecauseshe
was a masochist.She is then blamedin partfor the tortureof her daughterLisa.

If a masochistsubmitsto inhumanabuse,thatis perhapshis (or her)business.But the

momenta thirdpartyis involved,we passbeyondthe realmof differentstrokesfor dif-
ferentfolks. Miss Nussbaum,at the very least, acquiescedin the prolongedtortureof
Lisa Steinberg.As an adult (however disturbed),she bears a portionof the blame.
Whateverdeals the legal system may have made with her cannot expunge her own
moral culpability.(Lisa Steinberg'storturers1988, 19)

ShervenandSniechowskido nothave such explicitreasonsfor why women stay,

butthey clearlystatethatvictimsmustbe heldresponsiblefor theirrole in the abuse.
Althoughthey give the obligatorynod to men's responsibility,the mainpoint of the
storyis told in the title-"Women Are Responsible,Too"and illustratedin the fol-
lowing quote: "If women are not expectedto thinkand act for themselves,if their
self-esteem is in shamblesand their dependencyis characterizedas feminine, the
faultcannotbe laidatthefeet of men"(Playboy,ShervenandSniechowski1994,45)
Although these two articles are two years apartand are written by different
authors,both describe domestic violence as a dance thatneeds two people.
272 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

Boththemaleandthefemaleareboundintheirdanceof mutualdestructiveness andin

theirincapacityforintimacyandappreciation
of differences.
Theyneedeachotherto
perpetuatepersonalandcollectivedramasof victimization
andlovelessness,andso,
neithercanleave.(Playboy,ShervenandSniechowski1994,45)
regrettably,
Thepathologyof anyabusiverelationship includesa victimwhois deeplyinfatuated
withthe process.Thatis partof the sickness,andit's one of thereasonsthe victim
findsit so difficultto disengagefromthedance.Thisis onetruthaboutdomesticvio-
lencethatwe do notwantto hear:It takestwoto tango.Domesticabuseis a dance,
sometimesadanceof death,andittakestwopeopletodoit.(Playboy,Baber1996,33)

Baber applies this idea to the 0. J. and Nicole Simpson case by using attorney
Melanie Lomax's quote: "Nicole was involved in this dance with O. J. Simpson.
She has to bearher shareof the responsibility."He warnshis readersthatsome peo-
ple will be offended by that statementand "will dismiss it as a classic example of
blaming the victim. But her words are accurate"(Baber 1996, 33).
Baber himself was the victim in a violent relationshipand reportsthat until he
acceptedthe fact thathe was partiallyresponsiblefor the violence, he couldn't get
out.

UntilI acceptedthefactthatI wasa playerandpartof theprocessof domesticvio-

lence,I wasparalyzed.Therewassomethingperverselyintriguingaboutmy situa-
tion.As if I werehypnotizedordrugged,I enteredintoa dailyritualwithmyabuser.
ButI wasunwillingtotakeresponsibility
formypartinit.Afterall,shewastheoneon
theattack.Shewastheaggressorandpotentialkiller.I neverhither,nevergotphysi-
cal, so I assumedthatI hadvirtueon my side.It wasa tremendously self-righteous
position,andit feltgood.(Playboy,Baber1996,33)

Baber(1996, 33) says thatwhetheryou area manor a womanin an abusiverela-

tionship, "pleaseget the hell out now. If you do not, it's a decision you will have to
live-or die-with." AlthoughBaberuses his own experienceas a victim, the pri-
mary focus of the article is on women's responsibility.

GenderingSocialResponsibility
Some of the blame-genderingarticlesincludemanyof the same culturalthemes
used by the battered-womenmovementitself: sexism, culturalacceptanceof vio-
lence, public awareness, and education. However, the perspective toward these
themes is dramaticallydifferent.Sexism relates not to feminist concerns such as
objectificationof women butto "malebashing."Concernaboutculturalacceptance
of violence is limitedto acceptanceof female violence againstmen. This is the third
strategyfor genderingblame for domestic violence: critiquingthe social tolerance
for women's violence but not for men's violence.
Many articles discuss why society does not hold women responsible for their
violence. One theoryput forthsays thatthereare two sets of rules concerningvio-
lence. Brott supportsthis idea:
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 273

When it comes to domestic violence, society seems to have one set of rules for men
and another for women. Perhaps it's because we have been socialized to view
women's violence as somehow less "real"(and consequentlymore acceptable)than
men's violence. (Penthouse,Brott 1993, 34)

Brott argues that our society teaches girls that it is OK to be physically violent and
that people applaud women striking back.

Womenare subtlyencouragedto be moreviolent. Dr. Strausfoundthat"alargenum-

ber of girls have been told by their mothers, 'If he gets fresh, slap him."'Images of
women kicking, punching, and slapping men with complete impunity are not only
widespreadin movies, TV, andbooks, butthe viewer's or reader'sreactionis usually,
"Good for her."(Penthouse,Brott 1993, 34)

On the other hand, men are told to "never hit a girl" and if they are hit to "take it
like a man." Brott argues that this type of socialization leads male victims of abuse
to not protect themselves. Because of how men are socialized, they are reluctant to
report being victims of abuse. "Men are trained not to ask for help, and a man's not
being able to solve his own problems is seen as a sign of weakness" (Brott 1993,
32). Brott gives an example of how male victims are treated when they do come
forward:

Take Skip, who participatedin a program on domestic violence aired on the

short-livedJesse Jacksonshow in 1991. Skip relatedhow his wife repeatedlyhit him
and attackedhim with knives and scissors. The audience'sreactionwas exactly what
male victims who go public fear most-laughter and constant,derisive snickering.
Even when they areseverelyinjured,men will go to greatlengthsto avoidtelling any-
one what they've been through.(Penthouse,Brott 1993, 32)

Most of the articles suggest that to stop domestic violence, society must acknowl-
edge and hold female abusers accountable. In the following quote, women are sin-
gled out as needing to be held responsible:

The women's movementclaims thatits goal is equalrightsfor women.Women,there-

fore, should shareresponsibilityfor theirbehaviorandtheircontributionto domestic
violence. Only the truthwill stop the epidemicof violence thatis destroyingourfami-
lies and our nation. (Playboy,Shervenand Sniechowski 1994, 45)

This perspective is right in that female violence should be taken seriously. How-
ever, it should not be used only as a strategy to obscure male violence. These men's
and political magazines continue to ignore the male abuser and the cultural and
structural context that tolerates male violence. They point out the cultural context
that tolerates female violence without providing a similar analysis for the tolerance
of male violence.
274 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

BlamingBattered-Women
Advocates
The fourthmain strategyfor genderingthe blame is blaming battered-women
advocates. These advocates are accused of spreadingmyths and false statistics,
abusingthejustice systemanddiscriminatingagainstmen,promotinga male-bashing
campaignandfailing to acceptequalresponsibilityfor stoppingwomen'sviolence.
In a Penthousearticle,Siller (1986, 26) arguesthatsocial institutions-inspired
by feminists-are unfairlyaccusingmen of being the sole perpetratorsof domestic
violence and ignoringthe men who are victims: "Pigeonholingmen as aggressive,
animalistic,andbrutish,these feminist-inspiredcabalsbroadlyandunjustlyaccuse
men of being the sole perpetratorsof domestic violence."Ten years later,Wendy
McElroy (1995, 74) broadensSiller's argumentby accusing "radicalfeminists"of
using domestic violence andrapeto createa "newjurisprudencethatassesses guilt
and imposes punishmentbased on gender."McElroy claims thatmen's rights are
being violated in this fight againstrape and domestic violence:

of treatingmenas a separateand
Thissortof injusticeis theinevitableconsequence
antagonisticclass,ratherthanasindividualswhosharethesamehumanity aswomen.
Menarenot monsters.Theyareourfathers,brothers,sons,husbands,andlovers.
Theyshouldnot be madeto standbeforea legalsystemthatpresumestheirguilt.
(National Review,McElroy 1995, 88)

Battered-womenadvocatesare accused of abusingjustice by playing the "vic-

tim card."In an articlein TheNew Republic,Elshtain(1992, 25) pointsout that"As
Nietzsche himself observed,the flip side of an urgeto dominateis an urgeto submit
and then to construe victimizationas a claim to privilege."She arguesthat in the
"social world of the radical feminists"batteredwomen are constantlydefined as
"victimized, deformed, and mutilated."By portrayingherself as a victim, she
"seeks to attainpower throughdepictionsof her victimization."

Thevoiceof thevictimgainsnotonlyprivilegebuthegemony-provided sheremains

a victim,incapable,helpless,demeaned.Thiscanbe partandparcelof an explicit
powerplay.Orit mayserveas one featureof a strategyof exculpation-evasionof
fora situationor outcome.(TheNewRepublic,Elshtain1992,25)
responsibility

One point often discussed in these magazines is that radical women's groups
actively oppose the spreadingof anyinformationregardingfemale violence against
men. McElroy (1995, 74) says that "in the currentclimate of hysteria,those who
questionthe conventionalwisdom aredenouncedas enemies of women."Feminists
are accused of threateningresearchersandotherswho speakon behalf of male vic-
tims. The most common example emergingin these magazinesinvolves Suzanne
Steinmetz, who has researchedbatteredhusbands.
These magazines arguethatnot only are the radicalwomen's groupsopposing
any information regarding female violence against men but are also actively
encouraging a campaign of male-bashing. "Andin general the battered-women
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 275

campaignis powerfully fueled by the radicalfeminist presumptionthat all sex is

violence, andall men arebrutes.Call in the exorcists"(NationalReview,Killing the
enemy 1991, 13). In 1994--during the 0. J. Simpsonsaga-Baber focuses on pub-
lic attitudes and domestic violence with a specific look at male bashing. "The
Simpson-Goldmanmurdershavehighlightedmorethanone epidemic.Male-bashing
is a nationaldisease, andthe folks who perpetrateit have it down to a well-funded,
well-practicedscience" (Playboy,Baber 1994, 36).
Baber gives his readers six suggestions for facing the "currentcampaign of
shame"being lodged againstmen. Here are three of those suggestions:

(2) Wheneveryou heardomesticviolencedescribedas solely a maleproblem,

remember thatwomenarenotimmuneto violence.Statisticsshowthatwomenand
menareequallycapableof brutality in thehome.
(3) Althoughthefemaleof thespeciesis labeledas morepeacefulandnurturing
thanthemale,remember thatmothersabusetheirchildrenata ratealmostdoublethat
of fathers.
(5) As longas we believethatmenaloneneedcounselingin domesticviolence
cases,we will be dealingwithonlyhalftheproblem.Thestereotypeof the abusive
husbandandtheabusedwifeoftenfallsapartunderexamination. Itshouldberequired
bylawthatboththehusband andthewifegetcounselingafterdomesticviolencecom-
plaints.(Baber1994,36)

In this article,Baberdoes notreallygive suggestionsfor solving domesticviolence.

Rather,he targetsthe male bashingas the problemandofferssuggestionsfor resist-
ing the message thatmen are the majorityof abusers.
Siller (1996, 22) offers an alternativeto this male bashing. He calls for more
emphasisto be placed on "thevalue andimportanceof fatherhoodandthe presence
of a man in the home."Furthermore,he says that "reducingand eliminating the
crimeof domesticviolence is too importantfor ournationalleadersto lay the entire
blame at the feet of men." Feminists are blamed for not doing enough to stop
women's violence. Therefore,it is concludedthatthey arenot takingresponsibility
for stoppingdomestic violence.
Finally, some articles attackthe battered-womenmovement for downplaying
the extent and severity of female victims' injuries.Very often the authorscharge
feminist advocateswith abusingstatisticsregardingfemale victims. The statistics
given by advocacygroupsareoften describedas lies andmyths. "Likehydraheads
or spreadingkudzu,the false statisticskeepproliferating"(Young1994, 43). Young
goes even furtherby arguingthatthe violence itself is not as bad as you may think.
Youngcites Gelles's and Straus'sresearchthatestimatedabout 1.8 million Ameri-
can women sufferedat least one incident of severe violence each year. However,
Young (1994) points out that"only7 per cent of them requiredmedical care."She
also points out that a study publishedin the Archivesof InternalMedicine found
that "48 per cent of 'severemaritalaggression'by husbandscaused no injury,and
31 per cent caused only a 'superficialbruise"'(Young 1994, 44). Youngconcludes
her articlewith a sarcasticquestionfor the battered-womenmovement."Whynot
276 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

just say that 5 out of 4 women are batteredby men, and be done with it?"(Young
1994, 46).

DISCUSSION

TakingWomen'sViolence(andMaleVictims)Seriously
Many of the articles using the patriarchal-resistanceperspective make valid
points. Women'sviolence should be takenseriously,andmale victims of domestic
violence deserve supportand protection.But these concernsare mostly a camou-
flage for what is primarilya political countermovementto the feminist construc-
tions of domestic violence. If magazine publishersand editors were interestedin
reportingon the seriousness of women's violence and the need to help male vic-
tims, the contentand framingof the problemwould be very differentfrom the arti-
cles describedabove. A 1998 articlein New Man gives insight into what this per-
spective may look like if abusedmen were the centerof the concernas opposed to
the political opposition to the battered-womenmovement.
AfterNew Man publishedits cover storyon abusivehusbands(Abraham1998),
the editorsclaimed to have been "inundatedwithlettersfromanonymoushusbands
begging the magazine to tell the other side of the story"(Thomas 1999). In their
March/April1999 issue, New Manpublished"TheHusbandAbusers."This article
claimed that 15 percentof domestic violence victims are men. One of the biggest
differences between the New Man article and articles using the patriarchal-
resistanceperspectiveis thatit focuses on the question:"Whatcan a man do when
his wife is abusive?"As opposed to just blamingwomen for the bulk of domestic
violence, this article tries to help male victims. Although male victims are given
advice at an individual level, culturalsolutions are also addressed,including the
need for churchesto take a more proactiveposition on the problemof all spousal
abuse.
It is significantto point out thatthe types of abuse the articleclaims husbands
face aremainlyhumiliation,verbalandemotionalabuse,and "deliberatewithhold-
ing of sex."Althoughphysical violence was discussed,most of the examples were
of verbalabuse.The articlepoints out that"abuseagainstwomen tends to be more
severe thanthat againstmen" (Thomas 1999, 57). And the authorclaims thatmen
representonly 15 percentof all domesticviolence victims.The articlealso differen-
tiates between types of women's violence:

Themostcommongroupingarewomenwhouseviolenceas a formof self-defense;

thesecondgroupconsistsof womenwhohavethemselvesbeenabusedandarefinally
thethirdgrouparewomenwhoarestronger
reacting; thantheirspousesorwhoarethe
"primary Thisgroupis thesmallest.(Thomas1999,58)
physicalaggressors."

I do not want to downplay the problemsof emotional and verbalabuse. How-

ever, it is significant to note that the one magazine that claimed to have done a
 Berns/ POLITICALDISCOURSEON VIOLENCE 277

serious investigationof husbandabuse found that verbal abuse was the biggest
problemfor male victims. This is a far cry from the equality of physical violence
thatthe majorityof men's andpolitical magazines argue.Perhaps,if otherauthors
relied less on questionable statistics from one source and more on doing a thor-
ough investigationof women's violence, a more complete picturewould emerge.
But again,I do not thinkthatis the goal of these articles.Providingpoliticalopposi-
tion to the battered-womenmovementappearsto be the drivingforce.

The Perils of Degendering the

Problem and Gendering the Blame

The patriarchal-resistance perspectivehas threemajorimplicationsfor the fight

againstdomestic violence: (1) the normalizationof intimateviolence, (2) the diver-
sion of attentionfrom men's responsibilityand the culturaland structuralfactors
that foster violence, and (3) the distortionof women's violence.
The normalizationof intimateviolence is one of the more devastatingconse-
quencesof degenderingthe problem.Arguingthatmen andwomen areequallyvio-
lent implies thatthe problemis humannatureor normalbehaviorbetween people
without any considerationof genderrole socializationor culturalattitudestoward
women. And, significantly,this perspectiveignores the researchthat continues to
find thatmost victims andthe most seriouslyinjuredarewomen. Certainlyvictims
who aremale need to be helped and women's violence needs to be takenseriously.
However, targetingwomen's violence should not be done only as a strategy to
obscure men's violence. Portrayingdomestic violence as a problem that affects
men and women equally will jeopardizefundingfor programsthathelp victims of
domestic violence and misguide programsand resourcesdirectedat prevention.
Degendering the problem while gendering the blame diverts attention away
from men's responsibility and the cultural and structuralfactors that oppress
women and foster violence. This countersany attemptsto situatesocial problems
within a patriarchalframework.SusanCaringella-MacDonald(1998) arguesthatit
is easier to sell sensationalizedstories of rapecases in which the rapistsare "sick"
ratherthan writing aboutmale power and everydaysexism. Likewise, portraying
men's violence against women as rareor "only human"obscures the patriarchal
attitudesand social structurethat underliethe problem.Of great concern is that
these men's and political magazinesdo point out the culturalcontextthattolerates
female violence withoutprovidinga similaranalysisfor the toleranceof male vio-
lence. Even though the violence is seen as "equal opportunity,"this perspective
helps men avoidresponsibilityfor stoppingthe abuse.PaulKivel (1992) arguesthat
"counterattackand competing victimization"are tactics that men use to avoid
responsibility.In the nationaldebate aboutgender,men are claiming thatthey are
mistreated,cannotspeakwithoutbeing attacked,and arethe victims of male bash-
ing. "Thosewith power have many resourcesfor having their view of reality pre-
vail, and they have a lot at stake in maintainingthe statusquo" (Kivel 1992, 104).
He warnsthatwe mustbe awareof thesetacticsandbe readyto counterthem."Ifwe
278 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2001

keep oureyes clearlyon the powerandthe violence, we can see thatthese tacticsare
transparentfor what they are, attemptsto preventplacing responsibilityon those
who commit and benefit from acts of violence" (Kivel 1992, 104).
Certainlywomen's violence needs to be takenseriously,butin a way thatmoves
researchandpublic debateon violence forward,not backward.Renzetti(1999, 45)
pointsout that"despiteall we do notknowaboutintimateviolence, we do knowthat
it is gendered."The fact thatwomen aresometimesviolentgives us no reasonto dis-
miss the importanceof genderin understandingthe problem.The public debateon
women's violence is intensifying.Currently,perspectivesreflectingthe patriarchal
resistancedescribedin this study are leading this debate (see also Renzetti 1999;
Schwartzand DeKeseredy 1993). How a problemis framedaffects public opinion.
The dominant frame currentlyportraysmen's and women's violence as equal.
Moreresearchon women's violence is neededto help answerquestionsandprovide
a rich context for understandingthe violence. This additionalresearchis neededto
counterthe distortedimages of women's violence that are portrayedin the men's
and political magazines.

CONCLUSION

The overwhelming majorityof articles in the men's and political magazines

framedomestic violence in a way thatobscuresmen's violence andplaces the bur-
den of responsibilityon women. Womenare held responsibleas abusers,victims,
andadvocates.By degenderingthe problemandgenderingthe blame,this perspec-
tive underminesany attemptto situatedomesticviolence withina patriarchalexpla-
nation.The roles of genderandpowerareignored.The dominantperspectivein the
men's and political magazinesrepresentsa politicalcountermovementto the femi-
nist constructionsof domestic violence, not a reflection of serious concern about
women's violence and male victims. Three majorimplicationsof this resistance
discourse for the fight againstdomestic violence are the normalizationof intimate
violence, the diversion of attention from men's responsibility and cultural and
structuralfactors that foster violence, and the distortionof women's violence.
Ignoring roles of abusers and culturaland structuralfactors is not limited to
men's andpoliticalmagazines.An earlieranalysisof women'smagazinearticleson
domestic violence shows thatthe victim is the one held most responsiblefor ending
the abuse (Berns 1999). Counseling and advising the victim to leave the relation-
ship are the most common solutions in populardiscourse.Womenare told to find
solutions to this social problem within themselves: "Changeyour personality."
"Increaseyour self-esteem.""Takecontrol of your life." "Refuseto be a victim."
"Youhave the powerto end the abuse."The dominantfocus on victims' needs, syn-
dromes, stories, and responsibilityobscuresthe root causes of domestic violence.
People may be shockedby the explicit blameput on the victims in manymen's and
political magazinearticles.However,most women's magazinearticlesdo the same
 Berns / POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON VIOLENCE 279

thing by telling "it happenedto me" storiesthatimplicitly place the responsibility

on victims for solving the problemof domestic violence.
Holdingvictimsresponsibleas illustratedin popularmagazinesis a commontheme
in otherdiscourses.Similarstrategiesas describedin the patriarchal-resistance per-
spective are found in classrooms,Webpages, newspapers,TV shows, andpopular
books. Counterattacks,competing victimization,and de-emphasizinggender are
strategies that are used to divert attention from the everyday violence against
women. A more informeddebate,whetherin the media, classrooms,or academic
journals,is needed to uncoverthe political strategiesused to veil issues of gender
andpower,andto counterthe distortedimages of men's andwomen's violence that
currentlydominatepopulardiscourse.

NOTE

1. How to label the problemcontinues to be debated (e.g., Jones 1994; Meyers 1997). The term
domestic violence is criticized for not identifyingthe roles of victim and offender.Similarterms criti-
cized for this obfuscationinclude domestic dispute,family violence, conjugal violence, spouse abuse,
partner abuse, and maritalaggression. Othercommonly used terms, such as batteredwomen, abused
women, wife abuse, and wife beating, identify the victim but obscurethe offender.Termssuch as wife
abuse andspouse abuse arecriticizedfor ignoringabuseoutsideof marriage.Manyfeminists and advo-
cates use the termbatteredwomen,butit impliesthata woman'smainidentityis thatof a helpless victim.
I use the term domestic violence in this study to more accuratelyreflect the language used in the dis-
course I analyzed.

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Nancy Berns,a visitingassistantprofessorin the Departmentof Sociology at Drake University,

studies images of domesticviolence in the popular media and discourse and the effect of these
imageson public opinionandsocial policy. She receivedherPh.D.from the Universityof Illinois
at Urbana-Champaignin 1999.