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Descent Into Violence
One of the greatest dangers facing folkstory wives is that of being beaten by their husbands. Violent assault, normally considered a criminal act among men, is treated as a casual part of daily life in many folkstory households. Pauline Bart explains:
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Patriarchy encourages male violence against women . . . by
legitimizing men's rights to control women . . .Poetic imagery
and feminist analyses together will help us to see and understand
the meaning of the endemic, unexceptional, but shocking amount of
violence in all women's lives.
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The poetic imagery and feminist analysis of folkstory texts illuminate for us the enormity of violence against women. Marriage scenes help us to fathom the nature and meaning of this widespread violence.
Statistical compilations, shocking as they are, do not reveal the far reaching personal effects of wife abuse; and personal accounts are hampered by problems of memory recall, self-conscious explanations, concern for pride and appearances, and worry over future dangers from present accusations. Also, scholarly research cannot recreate the actual scenes of domestic violence.
Folkstories on the other hand unveil details of a wide array of abuse situations. As the plot unfolds, we begin to understand motivating factors, contributing circumstances, and precipitating incidents that are involved in abuse situations. The stories provide an opportunity to witness the development and onset of violence, the victimization that occurs in households, and the results of these harmful events.
Although many men in folkstory texts resort to physical attacks on their wives, only some are portrayed as brutal by nature. Many husbands start out as Tolerant Men. Yet in order to rule their wives, they become the Boss and use physical and psychological abuse, generally successful means of control.
Abuse stories often end with the prediction that the spouses will now get along well, indicating that a beating convinces a woman to give in to her husband. Women, unable to withstand the effects of brutality, capitulate. Folkstories contain important truths about wife battering.
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