Violence Against the Sexes (moved from BWQ)

On the contrary, I've seen quite a few women slapped/hit by men (or other women). Whatever works for the characters and the plots.

Have you ever watched a James Bond movie? Bond has no problem knocking a woman around.

In television and movies, the MPAA and FCC have strict guidelines against men hitting women in accordance of violence. They see it as sexist and as the larger, more dominant male bullying and subjugating the "weaker" sex. This is why, if you watch pro-wrestling, you'll see lots of storylines where the women interfere and they always stop short of getting pummeled. Men, on the other hand, get no such special treatment because either A) Men should be able to take care of themselves or B) They probably had it coming or C) Some other intangible and remarkably stupid reason. Books have no such censor other than the editors.

At least, that's my take on it...

Dwayne, I think this issue goes far beyond a "Basic Writing Question". You feel that men and women aren't depicted equally in the media and that's probably a valid point for discussion, this just isn't the place to hold that conversation.

ETA: I'm going to move this to the Roundtable.

...and if you go back in movie history you will find a lot more incidents where men are down right cruel to woman, James Gagney sticks that grapefruit so far up (was it Harlow, Grearson, the name slips my mind at the moment) that chicks snout she had juice coming out her ears....

Which cartoon series, Dwayne?

Yes, that is part of the Wayside schtick. Maurecia loves Todd and shows it by punching him. I don't think it's fair to extrapolate that all violence by women against men is considered acceptable based on anecdotes from a cartoon. Cartoons are particularly notorious for depicting violence of all sorts.

The truth is that violence of all sorts does occur and will continue to be depicted in movies/tv/novels.

Do you consider all portrayals of violence as humour offensive, Dwayne? Or is it just women being violent against men that offends you?

Don Allen said:

...and if you go back in movie history you will find a lot more incidents where men are down right cruel to woman, James Gagney sticks that grapefruit so far up (was it Harlow, Grearson, the name slips my mind at the moment) that chicks snout she had juice coming out her ears....

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Mae Clark.

I suppose the MPAA has no problem with females being stabbed, strangled, or hacked into small chunks if the assailant has the common courtesy to conceal his features behind a hockey mask, but God forbid less lethal assaults are inflicted by average guys.

We've come a long way, we've got a long way to go.

What else can be said?

I can think of three movies right off the bat where a woman gets decked by a man.
Drop Zone.
True Romance.
Doomsday.

The Verdict.

Paul Newman socks Charlotte Rampling in the kisser at the end of the film.

Don Allen said:

...and if you go back in movie history you will find a lot more incidents where men are down right cruel to woman, James Gagney sticks that grapefruit so far up (was it Harlow, Grearson, the name slips my mind at the moment) that chicks snout she had juice coming out her ears....

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Mae Clarke. She had an eventful year in 1931 - Boris Karloff (playing Frankenstein's Monster) murdered her on her wedding night.

ETA: Didn't see SirOtter's post above before posting.

Murder is fine.

Is the argument here that men are in some sense not "allowed" to hit women in media portrayals? Because not only is that factually wrong (to the other examples given above I'll add Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow in which the Jude Law character, about to go off on a seemingly suicidal mission, pulls the Gwyneth Paltrow character into a kiss and then socks her in the jaw, laying her out "for her own good" so she can't follow him) but as other commenters have pointed out, violence against women is absolutely pervasive in the media. I imagine that the rare incidents where women hit men stand out like black swans in a flock and that's why the OP notices them, against a level of pervasive and constant background images of male on female violence.

DwayneA said:

In many tv shows, cartoons, and movies I've seen, and in a few books I've read, there were moments with a woman slapping a man, yet I hardly see it the other way around? What I want to know is: how come? Why do viewers and readers don't like it when a female character is a victim of violence from a male character, even if it's justified? But when a woman slaps a man, no one makes a big deal out of it?

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In Supernatural Dean punches a woman in the face. And have you ever seen Buffy?

Yeah, it's so unfair, isn't it. I think they should make it so that women can hit just as hard as men, then that would make it more equal. Also, let's give the women the equipment and the strength to rape men too; how many times have you ever read a book or seen a film where a woman rapes a man?

DwayneA said:

In many tv shows, cartoons, and movies I've seen, and in a few books I've read, there were moments with a woman slapping a man, yet I hardly see it the other way around? What I want to know is: how come? Why do viewers and readers don't like it when a female character is a victim of violence from a male character, even if it's justified? But when a woman slaps a man, no one makes a big deal out of it?

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DwayneA said:

Why do viewers and readers don't like it when a female character is a victim of violence from a male character, even if it's justified?

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It might be helpful for the purposes of debate if the OP could list the circumstances in which he considers it's "justified" for a male character to use violence against a female character, too. Are we talking self-defence or burned dinner here?

Keyan said:

Murder is fine.

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QFT

Cartoons are, by definition, over the top. Their situations neither reflect society nor influence it. Exaggeration for comedic effect is really the only purpose of a cartoon. A cartoon has nothing whatsoever to do with reality. If it did, my generation would be carrying around a tiny umbrella and a sign that reads Help Me for those times when an anvil drops from the sky. Had anyone actually ever seen an anvil IRL?

Ever watch an episode of CSI? You'll get plenty of examples of violence against women there! Almost every time I flip by that show, some scantily clad woman has been horrifically murdered, and often times raped.

Dwayne. Men have been perpetuating violence against women since the beginning of time. It is so pervasive in our culture, you probably don't even notice it in other programs. In recent years, female characters who are fighters have been created in a sort of attempt to bring some balance. But often then still the woman is hurting a man who is a bad guy. Yes there are women out there who physically abuse men and it is just as horrible as when men abuse women, but they are in the minority. Also men tend to be physically stronger than women and so a girl punching a guy is likely to have less effect than a guy punching a girl.

Do you know how many men murder their wives? Beat their wives? So many women lose their lives at the hands of the men they supposedly love. Recently a man beheaded his wife because she was divorcing him. In other countries, a woman can be stoned to death if she cheated on her husband. Like I said earlier, yes there is violence against men by women, but the ratio is still heavily bent in the direction of violence against women. Trust me, in the real world at least, women still get the brunt of it.

Yes there are women out there who physically abuse men and it is just as horrible as when men abuse women, but they are in the minority.

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It's getting more prevalent though.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1076854.ece

Home Office statistics show that one third of victims of domestic violence are men.

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That was 2004

This is this year: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/health/newsid_7878000/7878801.stm

Men in England and Wales aged between 20 and 24 are just as likely to be abused by their partners as women in the same age group.

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Whichever way round the violence goes, it's bloody awful. But it is still often perceived as a man hitting woman thing, which, cop shows aside, isn't shown on TV, whereas the women hitting men is often seen as a bit of a joke and can therefore be shown. Sad but true.