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The abuse of men by their female partners is a serious social problem, largely unacknowledged by society. It has the effect of exacerbating a sense of disempowerment which many men experience today. This study explores the nature and extent of abuse
against men, how they are affected by it, and the social structures which enable the abuse to occur. My hypotheses were that the pain men experience as victims of female abuse is of such a magnitude that they are often unable to bear it, and also that there is a widespread
prejudice against men which works against a just resolution in situations of heterosexual conflict.
The origins of the bias against men lie in certain philosophies within feminism, which label a wide variety of historical and cultural developments with the single term 'patriarchy'. This simplistic reduction enables the proponents of these philosophies to condemn men as a whole for the problems of civilization.
About the author
Lynne Renoir suffered physical abuse at the hands of her judgmental father. The pain she endured led her to investigate how other abused people suffer, particularly men in their relationships with destructive women.Renoir's belief is that the abuse of men by their female partners is a serious social problem, largely unacknowledged by society. She argues that it has the effect of exacerbating a sense of disempowerment which many men experience today.In her Master's thesis, Renoir interviewed forty-eight men from Australia and New Zealand. Her study explores the nature and extent of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse against men, how they are affected by it, and the social structures which enable the abuse to occur. Her hypotheses were that the pain men experience as victims of female abuse is of such a magnitude that they are often unable to bear it, and also that there is a widespread prejudice against men which works against a just resolution in situations of heterosexual conflict. The origins of the bias against men, in Renoir's view ,lie in certain philosophies within feminism, which label a wide variety of historical and cultural developments with the single term 'patriarchy'. She suggests that this simplistic reduction enables the proponents of these philosophies to condemn men as a whole for the problems of civilization.The thesis points to the fact that society sees only women as victims of abuse, with men inevitably portrayed as perpetrators. Renoir's call is for governmental authorities to recognize the plight of men in abusive relationships and to take action to remedy the wrong that has been done to them. [267 words]
