Kirsti Clapsadle WGS 101 Megan Burke Paper 4 Part I Domestic violence is something that affects women in all

areas of the world. It burdens women of all ages and classes, and weighs on the lives of women of every color. For all of these women, there is a struggle for power in their home and/or relationship. In some areas, this abuse is kept silent. In others it is ignored or even allowed. This is a problem throughout humankind, causing suffering for millions of women. While it is difficult to achieve accurate numbers on this issue, as many women consider intimate partner abuse a private matter, of the numbers achieved, 47% of adult women in Egypt have experienced physical abuse from a male partner. 47% of the abused women never told family or police about their experiences, but kept quiet, likely because they thought it to be acceptable, as 94% of Egyptian women said that things like burnt food, arguing, and refusal of sex are reason enough for abuse (28). So most Egyptian women think that domestic abuse is acceptable, and about half of them experience it. A quarter of Egyptian women experience abuse and never report it. This issue is a patriarchic one, as the man who beats his wife is taking her power away from her. The woman who allows it is also contributing to this patriarchic society, but often this is because of her fear (for her physical and emotional health, as well as other aspects of her life) to stand up for herself in her current situation. Though Egypt is the place where the highest percentage of women condones abuse, it is not the only place. Zambia, India, Ethiopia, and many other countries women also consider it acceptable. While in India, 70% of women tolerate domestic violence, a law recently passed that

puts more restraints on domestic abusers (29). It criminalizes marital rape, and enables women to obtain protection orders, along with other components. The worlds laws continue to develop in most places, but even with this law in India having passed, between 60% and 80% of Indian women experience some form of abuse, and 42% physical abuse (29). All over, women are influenced by domestic violence, both physical and emotional. Many dont realize that violence is not only a physical thing. Emotional abuse is just as damaging as physical abuse. Physical violence is often a contributor to emotional violence. This emotional abuse can be longer-lasting than outward bruises and cause deeper, invisible pain that is frequently neglected by society. One specific type of physical abuse that is prominent is sexual abuse. Rape within a marriage is not uncommon. This, too, is a universal issue. While illegal in many countries including the United States, Canada, Argentina, Ecuador, Australia, India, Russia, and almost all of Europe, from Canada to Zimbabwe women are subject to sexual assault within an intimate relationship. In Germany, Canada, and the United States, 15% of women said that they have been subjected to sexual assault or attempted sexual assault by an intimate male partner (58). In India, the number jumps to 28% (58). All of these types of abuse are attributed to the mans claiming of his power and possessions, considering his wife as his property. Sometimes, a widow can even be inherited as part of a mans belongings after his death (24). While in more recent years the age of first marriage has increased in most places, there are still children being married off before they reach adulthood. In the late 1990s in Rajasthan, 56% of girls were married under the age of 15, 17% of whom were under 10 (24). At this age, it is not only difficult to stand up as a woman, but also as

a child. Women and children have about the same rights in places like this, creating impenetrability within the domestic abuse issues in these areas. It is clear that this is an issue that we must continue to fight against. Women must band together to fight against domestic violence and overtake the issues that are affecting us both physically and emotionally. In Russia, 36,000 women endure physical abuse from their partners daily (29). Buenos Aires women report about 53 complaints of domestic violence every day (28). In the United Kingdom, every minute, a domestic violence incident is reported to the police (29). Everywhere you go, you are sure to find accounts of domestic violence, be it in North Korea, Argentina, or Pakistan, China, United States, or Nigeria; women around the world are affected by this horrible power struggle every day.

Part II I fold the same pair of jeans about twelve times a day. I sneeze for hours after work because of the hundred sweaters I fold during the day. I dont actually need the job I have, but I do it anyway. Im no Karen Pittelman when it comes to the three-million dollar trust-fund, but my parents do help me enough to where Ive never had to face the issues that are faced by hundreds of women right here in my own community. In I Was a Secret Rich Kid: A Tale of Class Unconsciousness, Karen Pittelman tells of her experiences as a child of very wealthy parents. She admits that she never had to earn her place in the world as a privileged, upper class, white girl. Pittelman tried hiding her rich-girl past by taking jobs that poorer people would usually work. She volunteered, and tried to escape

her wealthy world by travelling away from her home and rich family. After Pittelman realized that her privilege was going to tag along wherever she went, she began to take advantage of it. This chapter is one that I feel I closely relate with. I am not rich, but my family is uppermiddle class, and while I am very open-minded and willing to help most causes whenever and however I can, I hadnt really realized how unable I am to imagine what it is like to be an underprivileged woman before my womens studies class. I work over twenty hours per week, along with sixteen credits of school. Im not sure I do this because of the need to feel more equal to the people around me like Pittelman felt, but Im also not sure what else the reason could be. Of course we all want a little extra spendingmoney, but I could get spending-money with or without the job. I think it is very possible that, like Pittelman, I want to feel closer to the people that I want to help. When I read that Pittelman decided to use her trust fund to help people who needed it more than she did, I envied her. Yes, my family is wealthy, but not wealthy enough to donate large sums of money. We do, however, donate where we can. We contribute to Childrens Miracle Network and I have begun to volunteer more often. Now that I am better educated in the subjects of feminism, I am able to spread the word. Believe it or not, Facebook has been pretty helpful in doing so. I frequently post thought-provoking statements about deep subjects, like, for example, when I posted that in some countries it is illegal and even subject to death to be gay or lesbian. By the time I signed back into my account, I had five comments waiting for me with people wanting to know more detail, many of them in disbelief. I think I do the best I can in helping my community with the time and money I have available to me, and as soon as I am able to, I will do more.

I never really had a specific click moment, like the one Pittelman had when she was talking to her coworker at her fast food job, but I have had a transition from slightly-activist, to admitting to calling myself feminist. Im not sure when I crossed that hump, but I am pretty sure that it would not have happened as quickly without the help of my womens studies class. Information is available to the public, but it is not as obvious and easy to obtain as when you take a humanities-type class where the resources are provided for you and much more in-yourface. That isnt to say that I would never have come across the material learned in class had I not enrolled in the class, but I would not have looked at it as thoroughly and probably not have gotten nearly as involved as I have. Karen Pittelman is one of the first young-people Ive heard of who was willing and wanting to donate all of her resources to the people who needed it more than she did. It definitely makes me want to do more for my community and try harder to help out whenever I can. From now on, whenever I go to work and think yeah, Im just like all the people I work with, Ill think again. Many of my co-workers are in similar situations as I am, but most of them are not. There are middle-aged women with children. There are high-school girls trying to help out their families. There are college-dropouts, and there are college-graduates. We are all equal, but we are not the same. We are all different, but most of us have the common goal of growing as people and for me that involves helping where I can at the moment, and working to be able to help where I cannot now.

Works Cited Part I Pittelman, Karen. "I Was A Secret Rich Kid: A Tale of Class Unconsciousness." Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. Ed. Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan. Berkeley: Seal, 2010. 113-19. Print. Part II Seager, Joni. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. Ed. Janet King and Martine McDonagh. Fourth ed. New York: Penguin Group, 2009. Print.