Sir, - It was strange to find two women (Breda O'Brien, Opinion, October 14th and Mary T. Cleary, October 18th) in the same week lobbying for more to be done for men in Irish society - and specifically complaining that not enough attention is paid to male victims of domestic violence.
It is undoubtedly a sign of a more civilised society when women identify with men as the underdogs. But I find the argument that women are as likely to be as violent as men a little confusing and difficult to swallow.
I agree with Breda O'Brien that there is a need for a revised history of gender relations and a more balanced understanding of the sources of abuse and violence in society. For too long there was the simplistic view that men were the perpetrators of violence and women the victims. We need to need to look differently at what has been happening, at the ways myths have been constructed. But Ms O'Brien is against reconstruction. She argues for essentialism. If gender differences are biologically constructed, we may as well close up shop and abandon all hope in reason and the ability to critically reflect and change the way men and women live their lives.
Yet towards the end of her article, she calls for instilling "oldfashioned virtues" in our young men - as if they were some empty vessels which needed filling up regardless of what they think or feel. It would help if she spelt out what these "old-fashioned" virtues are.
One of the advantages of educational programmes such as "Exploring Masculinities" is that they help young adult males to reflect critically on the various constructions of male identity - including "old-fashioned virtues" - and thus be in a better position to construct their own identities.
My problem with Mary Cleary's article is that she conflates abuse with violence. Amen is a support group for men in violent relationships. She says that on its website there are details of 100 studies which show men and women abuse each other in equal numbers. But there is a difference between mental abuse and physical violence. I am in favour of research that reveals the strategies and tactics which women use to dominate men in domestic relationships. Part of this research might reveal to what extent Irish women beat, batter and rape their partners as much as men do. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Tom Inglis, Department of Sociology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.