An Interesting Book by a Former Feminist Male

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This is my first visit to this website, and it has been most interesting to me, as a retired policeman who was arrested and falsely charged with domestic violence by my then-girlfriend, who was a violent alcoholic, and who subsequently recanted her false accusations. I'll post my story in the future when I have more time, but I do want to advise everyone of a most interesting book I read several years ago: The Myth of Male Power, by Warren Farrel, Ph.D. Dr. Farrel was once a member of the National Organization of Women (NOW) board of directors, but he became disenchanted with the anti-male bias at NOW and resigned. One of the most interesting facts he presents in this tome is that most statistics (to this very day!) on domestic violence come from Justice Department surveys--police reports, in other words. Most such reports are made by women against men. This makes sense, because few men who sustain physical attacks by their wives or girlfriends bother to call the cops. I know this is true, because I used to BE a cop. On the other hand, I also know--again because I used to be a cop--that women DO attack men frequently, and those cases which come to police attention are usually called in by neighbors, or by hospital emergency room personnel due to extensive injuries or the involvement of weapons. This is what Dr. Farrel keyed in on: when one surveys HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM MEDICAL REPORTS one finds a 50-50 breakdown in domestic violence reports. In other words, hospital records reveal that an equal percentage of MEN are battered by female domestic partners as are WOMEN battered by male domestic partners. Anyway, I highly recommend this book. It's very readable, and contains many other fascinating facts and statistics. Give it a read and let me know if you agree. Those of you doing graduate research and various university papers might also find it of use.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2002

Answers

In addition, Dr. Farrel has written another excellent book called "Father and Child Reunion" which extends the topics and research to include the several sexism in the system in protecting a Father's rights. As many on this list have noted already, even if the mother is abusive and the father is a good parent, the father can have difficulties in gaining custody of their children. The inherent sexism of the court system in believing that mother's can be far worse than fathers needs to be countered. For all those fathers out there, I would recommend getting a copy of this book. For a sample of his writing, there is an excellent article at http://www.themenscenter.com/mensight/Articles/Farrell/elian.htm. You can visit Dr. Farrell's web-site at http://www.warrenfarrell.com which includes links to where you can buy his books. If due to domestic violence and other issues about not being able to afford his books, contact Dr. Farrell. When he came to speak at a lecture where I work, he mentioned that he would help people who couldn't afford the book (use the e-mail link or phone number under "Warren in Person".

Good luck everyone.

-Ted Ying.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2003


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