Snake Oil Salesgirls and the Politics of Domestic Violence - Pt 2
Trudy W. Schuett
How did this happen?
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the concept of feminism was running out of gas. Nobody wanted to financially support organizations that had served their purpose, and were now little more than coalitions of the perpetually discontented. We already had equal pay for equal work, established in the 1960s. Roe vs. Wade came about in 1973, and no-fault divorce was in effect in most states. The Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution was a non-starter, primarily because states decided it wasn’t necessary to re-invent the wheel by ignoring the 14th Amendment, already in place.
Organizations such as NOW were at risk of going under, due to lack of support. The self-styled feminist gurus left over from the 1960s were faced with the daunting prospect of obsolescence. Since the issue of “women’s rights” had never been anything more than a vehicle for imposing collectivist ideals on an unwilling public for these latter-day Marxists, they decided to latch on to another issue with a lot of emotional impact, and big money possibilities.
Domestic violence was that issue.
Fate had intervened, and in Michigan in 1977, Francine Hughes murdered her husband, though eventually found not guilty of the crime due to a claim of temporary insanity.
Apparently few people ever read the original book on the incident, entitled The Burning Bed by Faith McNulty. If they had, they would’ve recognized that Francine Hughes’ rationalization for the murder was not fear of her life as everyone presumed, but only a desire for “a better life.”
Her story was made into a 1984 TV movie starring Farrah Fawcett, a major TV star of the era, firmly establishing the mythology of the “heroic battered woman” in the public consciousness.
Like barnacles on the hull of a ship, feminists attached themselves to this issue and claimed to have all the answers. The grunt work had already been done – in England, Erin Pizzey had established the first shelter for DV victims, and in the US, groups of lesbian women had established a few programs. The work of the first shelter advocates was co-opted by feminists, who took all the credit, and turned what was intended to be a helpful service to the community into a political cause and cash cow.
I find it ironic that the earliest American programs were for victims of female abusers. Today, lesbian women are among the many groups denied services by today's programs, which refute the existence of violent women.
Erin Pizzey herself was forced out of her own agency by 1984 for the crime of providing equal services for men and women.
Then they developed “theories” of DV, based on thin air and misandry, and peddled them to the public. I’m sure the feminist lawyers were thrilled, because now they had an assured clientele, and could not only live but prosper on the referrals from newly-established “coalitions against domestic violence,” whose purpose was primarily to encourage as many divorces as possible, while serving as lobbying agencies to provide favorable legislation for their newly-created special interest group.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Snake Oil Salesgirls and the Politics of Domestic Violence - Pt 6
- Snake Oil Salesgirls and the Politics of Domestic Violence - Pt 5
- Snake Oil Salesgirls and the Politics of Domestic Violence - Pt 4
- Snake Oil Salesgirls and the Politics of Domestic Violence - Pt 3
- Snake Oil Salesgirls and the Politics of Domestic Violence - Pt 2
- Joe Biden Wants Even More Divorce Lawyers
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.