by Timothy Reaves

Created on: March 31, 2009

Violence against women is a topic that I had never even considered as a real issue until very recently. I went to a protest and forum called "Take Back the Night" at Appalachian State University a few weeks ago. I felt embarrassed to be there, surrounded by women and girls who probably did not want me there. There was this sense that I could not participate in the protest since I was a man.

The embarrassment continued as we marched down the street, chanting slogans and waving to people who came out to see what the commotion was all about. In a way I did not want to be associated with the group since I did not know if there was some sort of underlying political agenda that I had not realized.

Then we all sat down in an auditorium and women started telling stories of sexual abuse. I personally knew a couple of the women, and it was deeply troubling to realize that these people had lived through something as terrible as sexual abuse.
I realized that day that sexual abuse and violence against women is much more prevalent than I thought it was. I realized later that my lack of knowledge was due in part to the lack of discussion of these issues in the media.

Gail Mason says that "Violence, and the knowledge of violence, engenders fear." (2006) She goes on to say that fear is prevalent in the movement of women's liberation. It exists when a woman walks to her car alone, and it exists when women get together to fight violence. This is both the fear that something terrible will happen, or that nothing will happen, that after all the hard work of the movement, nothing will change (Mason, 2006).
The movement itself has had much success at making the issue of violence against women more widely known, but there is little mention of it or the issues surrounding it on the mainstream media.

One issue of violence that stuck out in my mind from the moment I heard about it was Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
This act involves removing the clitoris from a girl or a woman to keep her "pure" from sexual desire (2004).
Despite its stunning violence, my view toward it even now is uncertain. One side of the argument is clear: it is mutilation and disfigurement that gives no choice to the girl or woman. It is barbaric and ruthless and strips the woman of any power or dignity. On the other hand, does its barbarous character allow mea white, Western maleto dictate morality onto those who practice it?
This is complex, for I am personally horrified by it and the fact that people do it. But is

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