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From time to time, in the heat of debate, we find ourselves uttering something that, given a moment or two of reflection, we either might not have said or we would have qualified in order to clarify our intent. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to be challenged by someone who has heard us, thereby allowing us the opportunity to correct or clarify what we meant.
Exactly that happened this morning when, following the Culture Wars segment on the John Oakley show, I was contacted by a listener who challenged a statement I made while intending to point out that there are bad realities within relationships sanctioned by the church, not just in those maligned by it. In so doing, however, I said that spousal abuse is a "heterosexual issue". It is, of course, an abhorrent reality in many relationships and not at all exclusively those that are heterosexual. Indeed, its prevalence in homosexual relationships may be neglected because of the heterocentrist assumptions about abuse that are prevalent in society and are reinforced by media representations of it.
Please take a moment to visit the site managed by AARDVARC, An Abuse Rape Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection. I thank my listener for sending me the link and giving me an opporrtunity to explain myself and apologize for potentially reinforcing a stereotype that needs to be diminished in order that we are able to see reality more clearly.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 January 2010 )
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