In Defense of the Sisterhood

Though I have heeded someone's suggestion and have not been reading one of my favorite blogs recently, I thought I'd do my part for woman-kind by showing the flip-side of woman-bashing (however popular it may be):

I heard a *male* speaker my last semester in college spout the following statistic: The #1 man a woman needs to be afraid of is the one she lives with. Think about that, and let it resonate. It makes sense since he is the one man with most and easiest access to her.

It usually begins insiduously and under-the-radar:
...Even the not so sympathetic agree: if a man begins his abuse with insults or name-calling, he has a serious problem that will not go away, but will escalate.
...26% of teen girls report enduring verbal abuse in dating relationships. (holy crap!)

And it's not just that girl:
......1 in 4 women will experience Domestic Violence. (In fact, it's a cause close to my heart because, of my 4 best friends and I, 3 of us have experienced it, and no, we didn't know that before we became friends). *Guys, this means that most likely you have, or will, date someone who has dealt with this.*
...In the US, a woman is physically abused every 9 seconds.
...There is not one segment of the female demographic that suffers a higher rate of domestic violence than any other: all women of all walks of life are abused at the same rate.

And it's *not* just older, married women:
...women 16-24 experience the highest rate of domestic violence.
...53% of domestic violence occurs within a dating relationship.
...30-50% of dating relationships exhibit the same kind of escalating violence as marital relationships.

And it's not always just a slap across the face:
...Wife beating results in more injuries requiring medical treatment than rape, car accidents and muggings combined.
...Over 1200 women are killed each year by an intimate partner.

So, while this week in particular, you may be having fun reveling in the woman-bashing, -trashing, and -degrading, (or so I hear) remember: it's not completely funny. Attitudes affect actions. Anyone (say, like, a blogger) with any realm of influence should be careful not to encourage nasty attitudes or behaviors. It is not as innocuous as it might seem. After all: 90% of Americans agree that men should take responsibility for preventing violence against women.
...isn't it time?

Just a thought.