Who-Stole-Feminism.-How-Women-Have-Betrayed-Women

200 WHO STOLE FEMINISM?It appears that violence in lesbian relationships occurs at about thesame frequency as violence in heterosexual relationships. The abusemay. . . . [range] from verbal threats and insults to stabbings andshootings. Indeed, batterers display a terrifying ingenuity in theirselection of abusive tactics, frequently tailoring the abuse to thespecific vulnerabilities of their partners. 38Once again, it appears that battery may have very little to do withpatriarchy or gender bias. Where noncriminals are involved, batteryseems to be a pathology of intimacy, as frequent among gays as amongstraight people.Battery and rape research is the very stuff of gender feminist advocacy.Researchers who try to pursue their investigations in a nonpolitical wayare often subject to attack by the advocates. Murray Straus reports thathe and some of his co-workers "became the object of bitter scholarlyand personal attacks, including threats and attempts at intimidation." 39In the late seventies and early eighties his scholarly presentations weresometimes obstructed by booing, shouting, or picketing. When he wasbeing considered for offices in scientific societies, he was labeled anantifeminist.In the November 1993 issue of Mirabella, Richard Gelles and MurrayStraus were accused of using "sexist 'reasoning' " and of producing worksof "pop 'scholarship.' " The article offers no evidence for these judgments.40In 1992 a rumor was circulated that Murray Straus had beatenhis wife and sexually harassed his students. Straus fought back as best hecould and in one instance was able to elicit a written apology from adomestic violence activist.Richard Gelles claims that whenever male researchers question exaggeratedfindings on domestic battery, it is never long before rumors begincirculating that he is himself a batterer. For female skeptics, however, thesituation appears to be equally intimidating. When Suzanne K. Steinmetz,a co-investigator in the First National Family Violence Survey, was beingconsidered for promotion, the feminists launched a letter-writing campaignurging that it be denied. She also received calls threatening her andher family, and there was a bomb threat at a conference where she spoke.As long as researchers are thus intimidated, we will probably remain inthe dark about the true dimension of a problem that affects the lives ofmillions of American women.Another factor limiting the prospects for sound research in this area isthe absence of a rigorous system of review. In most fields, when a wellknownstudy is flawed, critics can make a name for themselves by show-