ENDING VIOLENCE
Feminist movement remains the effort to create and sustain greater cultural awareness of domestic violence as well as the changes that must happen in our thinking and action if we are to see its end.
When we talk about violence stereotypically we refer to something that men use more then women. And when the term domestic violence is advocated it is always women trying to stop men from hurting them. When feminist approach this situation I feel like it does not end because they are addressing it the wrong way. Feminists usually put the blame on men and men are not going to cooperate if they feel like they are being attacked and being accused of. The article “Ending Violence” states my point when it says that, “Initially feminist focus on domestic violence highlighted male violence against women, but as the movement progressed evidence showed that there was also domestic violence present in same sex relations, that women in relationship with women and are often times victims of abuse, that children were also victims of adult patriarchal violence enacted by women and men.” Therefore, peoples’ approach on this topic should not be women saying men stop violence or vice versa, it should be ending violence, period.
Domestic violence tends to soften the idea of violence; it is a private matter they say. It has been reported that even when people see domestic violence in public they do nothing to stop it because it is something they should not get involved in. It is between the two people and not the people who are looking. But that is the wrong approach to this situation. How is it possible to not want violence in our society yet do nothing to help prevent it?
On the other hand, patriarchal violence in the home is based on the belief that it is acceptable for a more powerful individual to control others through various forms of coercive force. And what makes one more powerful than the other? Money, position, and authority. For example, when we talk about examples inside a home we can say it is a child getting abused by their parents for the simple fact that it makes the parents feel like they have power. Some parents seek power because they do not feel like they have it in their relationship, at work, or within their surroundings. Therefore they become abusive to their child to gain or believe they do have some sort of power. An example of abuse outside the home are police officers. At first cops were seen as heroes and as time has passed by it seems like police officers have lost respect. In order to feel like they are in control and to feel like they have the last word in every situation they end up becoming more abusive and more violent in order to feel more powerful.
But is it possible to live in a world where no violence exists? I do not think it is possible in a system where equality does not exist. Especially not in a society that grows up believing that they should knock down whoever is in their way to success. We simply cannot find a non-violent society in a place where people are always on top of others. If we want to change the world we live in then we must first change the way we think and redefine the place we want to live in. And then take action.
