Madam, - In a tiresome regurgitation of one of his pet bugbears, Kevin Myers bangs away about Women's Aid and what he terms "these desperately silly women with their bigoted pathetic view of the world", and "their sexist, man-hating prejudice", and so on ad nauseam.
Here we have a desperately silly male with a bigoted, pathetic view of women (An Irishman's Diary, December 2nd). He tells us once more of the number of men killed in the Northern Ireland troubles. Who killed these but other men?
Perhaps Mr Myers would go to the trouble of telling us exactly how many men, in either acts of domestic violence, or in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, have been killed by women.
Trotting out the same old sexist bilge is getting quite tedious. He should really cop himself on. - Yours, etc.,
VERA HUGHES,
Moate,
Co Westmeath.
Madam, - Many of the letters regarding Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of December 1st reinforce his statements while attempting to deride him. Research from around the world has shown that men and women beat and kill their partners on a fairly equal basis, with a few reports suggesting that women may actually be more likely to beat their husbands.
It is, however, true that men in general are physically stronger than women, and so are more likely to do serious damage. Men are also less likely to report their wives abusing them because society will tend to laugh at them, or tell them that they somehow deserved it. Hence, abused men do not show up so much in gender violence statistics.
When Erin Pizzey attempted to set up the world's first centre for beaten women, she was told that it would never work; domestic violence was not a big deal, the police handled any cases that arose, etc. She went ahead anyway, and after a few days, her shelter was full of women desperate to escape from their abusive husbands. Ms Pizzey later attempted to open a similar centre for beaten men, and ran into many of the same objections - this time from the feminist movement.
Now, I am not attempting to rubbish the women's movement, or say that there are no female victims of domestic violence. The people who help these poor women do great work, and I have the utmost respect for them. However, isn't it about time we extended the same services to men? - Yours, etc.
CHRIS McCROHAN,
Cloon,
Claregalway,
Co Galway.
Madam, - Heartfelt congratulations to Kevin Myers for his comments on the issue of violence against women. He has achieved a new depth of superficiality and remains untainted by nuanced, informed or ethical social analysis. Well done! - Yours, etc.,
Rev MARIA JANSSON,
Rector,
Wexford Union of Parishes,
Park,
Wexford.