Male-dominated culture colours domestic violence discussion

Re: Men and women both capable of domestic violence, Opinion, Sept. 10

Don Dutton may believe that patriarchy and gender-based violence are outdated concepts that have no place in today’s discourse on domestic violence, but this sort of selective analysis is drastically out of step with the reality of present-day women.

The overarching climate that encourages and fosters male aggression and violence against women can be witnessed in almost every facet of our culture, from TV, movies and video games, to sports, and particularly pornography, which often features extremely violent and degrading acts done to women but viewed as a “natural” thing for men to engage in.

It is unsurprising boys raised in this setting become men who act on the conditioning they have received. Although women are indeed capable of violence, their propensity for it given their status and conditioning as a subjugated sex class over the centuries is not on the equal footing that Dutton would suggest. Laurel McBride, Vancouver

Don Dutton demonstrates a bewildering lack of recognition that women function within the confines of male-constructed states. Women are forced to assimilate to male institutions of government, law, economy, education. ... There is no equality between men and women in a white, privileged, male-constructed system even if gender parity could be achieved because it would be equality on white men’s political terms. This invisible/visible power-laden process shapes how we see and know violence (and interpret statistics) in society, whether we admit it or not. Marv Wheale, Vancouver