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Show 4 Signpost-Tuesday, July 23, 1985 lz i f r Battered Spouses a common problem by Sandra R. Shupe Staff Reporter Because battering crosses all socio-economic lines, it can and does happen to Weber State College Students. Squabbles are inevitable, especially when couples are feeling the stress of juggling school, work, and family responsibilities. But battering is different. What is it, what causes it, and how can it be stopped? Both people in a relationship may physically abuse one another, or the woman may be the batterer. However, by sheer phusical strength and our socialization to malefemale roles, men are more likely to batter. A Time Magazine article stated 2,000-4,000 women are beaten to death annually. The same article stated police spend one third of their time responding to domestic violence calls. Violence may erupt between married couples, people living together, or boyfriendgirlfriend. The common term for such violent acts is usually referred to as wife beating or spousal abuse. We are socialized to accept abuse as a condition women may suffer as their husband's property. For example, we would not expect one partner in a business agreement to submit to regular beatings and humiliation from another. We would advise himher to disolve the partnership. But wives are often counseled by family and friends to endure. In a 1982 study, 26 percent of the Protestant ministers responding felt that the wife should submit to her husband and trust God would honor her action by either stopping the abuse or giving her strength to endure it. Because of the emphasis on marriage in Catholic and Mormon faiths, the percentage of priests and bishops counseling abused wives to remain in the marriage may be higher. The wife batterer does not see the seriousness of his actions. His conditioning has taught him that it is all right to take his anger and frusterations out on someone else. He may even believe his wife deserved a beating. It is his resoponsibility to keep her in line, he believes, and he must control her to be a real man. Psychologists have devloped a profile of the average batterer. He has an explosive temper and becomes enraged at trivial things. He is extremely insecure, resulting in jealous accusations. He deprecates her with verbal abuse while intimidating her with physical force. He can be loving and charming, then metamorphisize into an ogre. To control her, he isolates her from family and friends. He is often more violent during her pregnancy or immediately following birth. The profile of the battered woman is not as universal, probably because any woman can be a victim. But the longer she stays in the destructive relationship, the closer she fits the profile. The picture is a result of the unhealthy pattern in her life. Battered women accept the traditional malefemale roles, equating dominance with masculinity and passivity with femininity. She accepts the guilt for the battering, even when she has done nothing wrong. She feels she must help her mate, reguardless. The battered woman stays in the relationship either because she believes things will improve or she feels she has no option. She often suffers from low self-esteem, preventing her from being assertive or seeking help. She has a strong desire to be needed and fulfills that need by being a buffer between the world and her mate. see BATTERED on page 5 IN GREAT BRITAIN 8P50PLS WSREKIOEP W HANP GUNS,,.. JHTKI IN AUSTRALIA 4 IN CANAPA 8 mrni IN AMERICA 25,000m wmxmm mmumm TO me GUN CONTROL, we HAVE 7H6 NRA. In Kc ir. Currillo If the good Lord had intended humans to have beautifully tanned skin, he wouldn't have invented slacks. As one who has spend the past 23 years trying to "bronze," it is time for me to cry uncle. Summer is always a very difficult time for me. All around me I see people three degrees darker than me. When I walk into the room, heads turn and stare at the white spot in the corner. I look like the before picture in a Coppertone ad. If I didn't have hairy legs, I wouldn't have any color. I hate "laying out" in the backyard. I am not worried about people peering at me over the back fence. What I hate is feeling like a piece of meat as I lather my body with tanning oil. I always have the strange urge to moo. I have really tried to tan, but nothing seems to work. When I was younger, I decided to let Mother Nature do her job, so I spent a complete summer running around without a shirt on. Others saw their skin turn a golden brown. For my troubles, all my skin did was develop large freckles on my shoulders. To this day I look like the playing field for a connect-the-dots contest. The new tanning clinics seemed to be an answer to my prayers for a quick tan. Last year I started taking "sessions". Although I . normally don't trust anyplace decorated in early plastic Miami Beach, I gave it a shot. I can't begin to tell you how ghoulish I felt as I closed the tanning bed lid down over me. It was like something out of a bad Vincent Price movie. I had visions of tanned vampires attacking the world. The problem with tanning clinics was it became habit forming. Suddenly, I found myself to be an addict for artifical sunshine. I would hide myself in the house all day long just waiting for the sun to go down so that I could rush to tan in my warm bed. My wife, bless her heart, finally cured me by forcing me to watch reruns of I Love Lucy. Who wants to be as dark as Ricky Ricardo? This year, I am trying a new approach to tanning. It doesn't cause cancer in test animals, and it doesn't cost a lot of money. My only worry is the brown magic marker will wash off during summer rainstorms. Summer Editor-in-Chief Kevin Carrillo Assoc. Editor-in-Chief Cindy Stettler News Editor Pamella Stoker Asst. News Editor Julie C. Rich Sports Editor Morgan Cloward Entertainment Editor JaNae Barlow Signpost Advisor Larry Stahle Senior Reporters Chris Larsen Loretta Park Mayvonne Wells Reporters David Oswald Richard Jordan Sandra R. Shupe Shelly Stevens Ad Sales Manager Kevin Carrillo Editorial Production Manager Emilie Bean Advertising Production Manager Mike Nordenstrom Photographer Jeff Bybee Delivery Rick Weir Bruce Grow Letter Policy The Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typed. The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and reserves the right to refuse to print any letter deemed inappropriate. Letters must include name, address and signature. The Weber Stale Signpost is published twice weekly during the school year and once a week during the summer. The Signpost is published by the WSC Department of Communications. Editorial comment appearing in this publication is that of the Signpost and not necessarily that .of WSC. The Signpost is located in the Union Building, room 267. Mail correspondence to WSC Signpost 2110. WSC. Ogden. Utah 84404 The Signpost is distributed to students on Tuesdav and Friday free of charge and is available by subscription for $9 a quarter. |