opression in intimate relationships
... suffer from oppression deal with his or her issues over the entire course of his or her lifetime. Feminist Bell Hooks claims that, “In case after case women in intimate relationships with men who are subject to the same form of interrogation and punishment they experienced as children, who accept their lover assuming an abusive, authoritarian role” (209). It’s sad for these women who feel like they are the ones who are at fault and to blame. Their feelings of vulnerability from childhood are always exposed and never really go away. These women grow up not really knowing what It is like to be loved or cared for without the physical abuse and pain. The men that are considered “oppressors” pick up on the fact that a women has had a history of physical pain. This makes them more susceptible to being victims of physical abuse because they just accept it as a normal part of their lives. I’ve heard stories and seen a lot of movies where women are being abused by their husbands or boyfriends. It just baffles me that these women stay with these men after what they have been through. I just don’t understand it. If I was being physically abused by my boyfriend, it would only have to happen once. There’s no way that I would stand for that. Maybe it’s because I was never beaten as a child. That might be where the issue lies. Maybe we should do more to stop child abuse because those victims most often grow up to be abusers or the ones abused So why in this day in age is this kind of behavior still going on? Why are husbands still abusing their wives? Women should be speaking up and getting rid of this misconduct. According to Bell Hooks, “Overemphasis on extreme cases of violent abuse may lead us to ignore the problem of occasional hitting, and it may make it difficult for women to talk about this problem. After years of abuse, a woman may lose self-esteem, and possibly her worth and value. This categorizing of her identity would add to the feeling that she should just forget and be silent” (211). Since men are considered to be more dominant and superior, a women that has been abused might feel like her efforts are useless. Most women, when faced with oppressive behavior from men fear that people may not believe her if she files a complaint to stop the abuse. Hooks talked about how women look at being hit as maybe not so severe because usually we only hear about extreme cases of violence. A woman might think that what’s being done to her is insignificant in the big scheme of things, which is completely unacceptable. Men should not be allowed to keep getting away with this behavior. There really isn’t much that can be done. People can talk about the way that things should be but sometime long ago it was established that women are inferior to men. I think that we’ve all had to come to except it but that definitely doesn’t mean that we agree with it. Unfortunately during childhood an innocence is lost that can’t be recovered when a woman is physically abused. It isn’t just the physical harm that is done; it’s more the psychological harm which has lasting effects. Bell Hooks says that “Even long after a woman has been physically harmed ...