Not all gender norms are as easily smashed. Some slip through the net of public compassion, and none more so than the antiquated stereotype that ‘men cannot be victims of domestic abuse’, and that ‘women cannot be violent’. Yes, it’s true... Women can be breadwinners and career animals, CEOs and political leaders, high fliers, and business moguls, every bit as successful, smart, and innovative as their male peers. And the outdated ideas of womanhood, that disallowed such things, are the stereotypes we all love to smash, stomp down, and kick into the dirt. As we should. But what about women’s capacity - not for roaring Fortune500 success - but their capacity for violence, and abuse? And what about men’s capacity to be the victim of such things? But dare utter the idea of violent women. And there it is… Silence. Nothing. Where have all the whoops and cheers, the grandstanding, and pats on the back gone? And where are our noble champions of women’s autonomy? Why has the feminist movement, that lead the vanguard of fighting gender norms, been so reluctant to confront this one? Or worse, why do so many of these people protect such stereotypes themselves? In time, people have finally come to accept that men can be abused by women, but often with the caveat that these men are ‘not often injured’, or ‘they don’t fear abuse as women do’. But yet again, the most recent data exposes these ideas as yet more harmful gender norms – the norms that most of society are too gutless, or disinterested, to confront. So I ask you, why are we so reluctant to discuss violent women, and vulnerable men? And who pays the price for our unwillingness to talk about them? ~ ONS Data  Deborah Powney debunks others myths Image by amin-moshrefi and elijah-hiett. #domesticviolence #domesticabuse #malesurvivors #malesurvivor

2023-12-05