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4 The Voice, For students, By Students | April 27, 2011 WWW. fsu voice. com send news tips to the editor; agarcial ©broncos.uncfsu.edu Patriarchy and domestic violence Women as property a dangerous affair By L’Asia Brown Voice Staff Writer Patriarchy is defined as “a form of social organization in which the father is the su preme authority in the family, clan, or tribe and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to the father’s clan or tribe”. The ideologies and systems of Chris tianity, Islam, and Judaism run staunchly parallel to patriarchal practices, and extreme measures are being taken globally, to uphold this system. Although many would argue that patriarchy is not necessarily a bad thing, the social repercussions of male-worship have taken a detrimental toll on several move ments to improve social interaction, namely domestic violence. Patriarchy runs rampant in the Black com munity, from religious sects to the entertain ment industry to social attitudes towards mar riage, and there is an eerie taboo that hangs over the discussion of abuse in romantic re lationships. Some say the historical and strategic pro tection of the Black man has resulted in the abuse and exploitation of the Black women. “We’re so focused on keeping our men out of the system that we’re not reporting incidents of rape and domestic violence. And we’re brushing off verbal abuse as a side effect of the Black man’s struggle in White America. I’m not buying it. At all,” says Veronica Bowles, former family advocacy employee with the US Air Force. “We’re not in post- racial America. Our men still have it hard out there, but abuse is unacceptable. We have to start holding offenders responsible. Men and women.” Acceptance of domestic violence in the Black American community is documented as early as the 1930s, when Zora Neale Hur ston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, was published. In the novel the main character, Janie, endures a beating from her second hus band, Tea Cake. The brilliance of the novel has thus far remained almost unmatched in authenticity, but the manner in which it glamorizes violence, is still relevant today. Hurston succeeds in creating a bizarre link age between deep love and violence, in which Tea Cake exercises his “masculinity, natural dominance, and love” by striking Janie in her face. “In many instances the woman is made to be at fault, when in reality, regardless of what ■ anybody says to another, violence isn’t the answer. But historically, there are traces of a deep-seeded hatred for women. Women are blamed for a lot, rape, violence. A lot. Un til society starts holding the man accountable it’ll be really hard to make progress,” com ments Jordan Oleander**. On February 7, 1988 actress Robin Giv ens and professional boxer Mike Tyson were married. Approximately seven months later. Tyson and Givens were granted a divorce. Givens cited spousal abuse behind her deci sion to leave the marriage. On February 8, 2009, singers Chris Brown and Robin “Ri- hanna” Fenty allegedly had a violent fight in side a rented Lamborghini. Pictures of a bat tered and bruised Rihanna leaked days later, with both parties later going on record to dis cuss the incident, though never in frill detail. Still, there are people who believe Givens and Fenty “provoked” the incidents, which laysjjroof to the tendency of the Black com munity to jump to the defense of the Black man while throwing the Black woman to the wolves of blame and judgment. “She must’ve done something to get hit,” reads a conmient on social-networking site Twitter, during a discussion of Chris Brown’s recent dramatic episode on Good Morning America. “That was two years ago. He served his time. Leave him alone about it,” says another comment. “In the patriarchal system, the woman is seen almost is property while the man as seen as an owner. Relationships consist of two humans who need to observe mutual re spect, physically, emotionally, mentally, and sexually. This nasty prospective Of some body owning somebody else is dangerous,” says Oleander. “The issue boils right down to men and womenTiot being seen as equal, and when two people are not equal, blame is usually shoved on the individual with less value.” A lack of affective rehabilitation services can also be blamed. Offenders are usually given probation or jail time, if reported to law enforcement at all. Group therapy sessions are usually assigned, though their effective ness has been questioned. On Georgetown University’s Counseling and Psychiatric Ser vice Web Site, group therapy is encouraged and heralded. “Group therapy is a powerful venue for growth and change. Not only do students receive tremendous understanding, support, and encouragement from others fac ing similar issues, but they also gain different perspectives, ideas, and viewpoints on those issues,” says the site, but some feel differ ently. “Group therapy sessions for anger man agement encourage the offender to suppress their anger instead of effectively expressing it. Going for a walk is going to do what? We need feel comfortable talking about their an ger, their issues, their sadness, their problems without the threat of being cast off as nutcas es,” says a domestic violence offender who requested to remain anonymous. Sean Smith***, a self-proclaimed secular humanist and freethinker, believes we need to move away from religious forms of therapy, citing flaws in its effectiveness. “We need to promote a more secular way of rehabili tating offenders when it comes to anything. Whether it’s domestic abuse, sexual assault, any form of violence, drugs, or whatever. Es pecially within the Black community because we’re so loyal to using religious dogma to be able to rehabilitate people.” “Nobody, not a man or woman, can pick up trash [community service] or sit in a jail cell and magically heal. We need to target the children, because anger doesn’t just randomly pop-up in an adult. Domestic violence is usu- ally the result of learned'behavior, anger, lack of self-control, and an ignorance of how to express thyself We need to stop this ridicu lous behavior. And we need to stop beating around the bush. You would’ve thought the bush was a thousand miles wide the way we’ve sat here and ran around it all these years” says Samantha*, domestic violence survivor. Between misguided efforts to protect males, old-age resentment towards women, and lackluster rehabilitative efforts in the criminal justice system, taking action against domestic violence will continue to flow like a muddy river. *Last name has been withheld at the re quest of the interviewee. ** Jordan Oleander can followed on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/The01eanderShow ***Sean Smith can followed on Twitter at WWW. Twitter. com/BlkAth3 st
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