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Maybe Letterman's wife already has. Or maybe she's the bigger person and expressed her feelings without physical violence. Wouldn't that put a damper on your day.
Maybe if people quit watching shows with Alec Baldwin and therefore makes it hard for him to get a job, he might quit being a jerk. Or we could inflict physical violence on him and see if that helps.
Same with Oberman and Stewart.
Or people could just tune 'em out and eventually they just go away.
But if you're into physical violence and that's your answer....
What if Oberman's wife turns out, to you, to be even more obnoxious than he is... should someone be allowed to slap her across the face too? Or Stewart's S/O... or Alec's S/O? Or Letterman's.... or.... or... or....
You know, I HIGHLY doubt it would make you feel better to see anyone slapped. Relatives of people who were murdered, who then witnessed the execution of the murderer, have given interview after interview and said the same thing, "there was no satisfaction in it". You see someone slapped one day and the next day they're right back to doing what they did that you hated in the first place and still gettin' a check for it. Where's the satisfaction in that?
So reacting to learning your partner has cheated on you by closing your FIST and PUNCHING them IN THE FACE, HARD, is appropriate?
No, but I watch The Good Wife and the scenario makes it okay for me. (I'm not like a fan of women slapping men on TV and often support when the man defends himself so long as he does so in a proportionate manner)
In GF he was a state's attorney who slept with hookers and then had her at a press conference where she was, in a way, humiliated in front of the whole world as he admitted to it. She also knew this would bring her and her children into a public scandal. Later he went to prison for charges that may or may not be bogus. In a way it also encapsulated the TV audiences desire to slap these guys like Eliot Spitzer or Mark Sanford who put their family through such pain.
And to me it being prostitutes makes it worse because of the greater risk of STDs. (She was still having sex with her husband while he, not to her knowledge, had prostitutes on the side) If the situation were reverse would it be okay for a man to slap his politico wife who did all these things? Well probably not, and maybe that's wrong, but you know if the husband was sufficiently smaller than his cheating politico wife I might say "go for it dude." (Well on thinking on it the image would still make me uncomfortable, but I would be good with the smallish man in such a scenario kicking her foot and walking off) I'm not saying it's right, but it's very understandable for someone who has hurt you and your children so much.
That's a lot of justification for hitting someone.
So you wouldn't gasp if the male character had smacked his wife across the face because she cheated then embarrassed him? You wouldn't expect the woman to feel physically violated? You'd be okay if she just stood there and took it, because, after all, she had it coming after what she did, right?
Have fun w/ what? I've never smacked a man, nor did I say it was ok, BUT I cannot predict my actions if I found out something as devastating as my husband cheating on me. Unfortunately...I think that's a REAL reaction..to slap someone if you found out they'd cheated on you. Not on the internet, of course, where everyone is perfect, but in real life.
And I don't think a man should smack a woman. EVER. Even if she smacks him first.
On average men are larger with greater upper-body strength. So as a general rule this makes sense.
However not everyone is average or general. I am a man who is under four-foot-tall and has a brittle bone condition. If a woman slaps me I think, logically, it really should be way worse than if I slap her. There's really no way, outside of using a weapon, where I could slap an average woman harder than she could slap me. If a woman starts wailing on me I would have to either run or defend myself with a weapon, namely my wheelchair.
Granted this is a weird situation, but there are less weird situations where the woman still might be in a better position than the man. Although in most of these I would say it's when the woman slapping is using a weapon. Queen Elizabeth I would sometimes slap people while having a jagged piece of jewelery in her hand. If a woman did something like that, and tore the guys cheek apart with it, I think it might be a bit unnatural to expect him to be completely restrained. Or if a woman just starts slapping a guy frantically while hopped-up on some drug. I'm not saying the guy has to slap back, but I think he should be able to try to grab her arms to restrain her.
That's a lot of justification for hitting someone.
So you wouldn't gasp if the male character had smacked his wife across the face because she cheated then embarrassed him? You wouldn't expect the woman to feel physically violated? You'd be okay if she just stood there and took it, because, after all, she had it coming after what she did, right?
Well after I said it I realized there is still the height/muscularity issue. Chris Noth is clearly bigger than Juliana Marguiles. (sp?) So if it had been her character humiliating him in public with the shameful revelation it would feel wrong him hitting her.
However if the guy's little and the woman's big then I'd say it shouldn't bother me. Maybe it still would, but I don't see why it should. Although sometimes taboos exist for a reason so I started switching to thinking it'd be more appropriate for the man in such a situation to kick her in the foot or shin. I mean if he's going to get physical.
How does size and physical condition matter when it comes to physical violence? If I walk up to a line backer and punch him in the nose I can't expect him not to hit me back just because he is bigger and in better shape than me.
The same rules should apply to women vs men. If someone, anyone, hits another person they should expect a response. This male/female stigma is outdated and shouldn't exist in this day and age. If a man hauled off and slapped a woman he could fully expect to be charged with something... a woman on the other hand would be praised by most, heh.
The same holds true for domestic violence cases. There have been years of publicity and all kinds of organizations maked for women being abused by men but little or no support for men abused by women. And if you assume it doesn't happen or it is a rare occurrence you need to do some research.
Now this subject should in no way relate back to chivalry or other romantic notions of the male/female social dynamic. I respect and revere the "better half" of the species. I hold doors, defer seats and just all around give respect to the women around me. This doesn't mean that I will stand there and be physically assaulted by one though. These are two totally different things.
How does size and physical condition matter when it comes to physical violence?
Seriously? How does it not?
A Heavyweight Boxing Champion hitting David Hyde Piece is clearly not the same as the other way round. Some people can "take a punch", or slap, better than others. So of course it's relevant.
I mean if you punch me in the face you may kill me due to my condition. If I punch you in the face it's extremely unlikely you will even have any permanent mark or scar. Obviously killing someone is worse than causing temporary pain.
I can understand "that's not fair" but you know what that's life. Not all of us are equal in all things. I don't think it's right for me to hit anyone and I don't. However it is more wrong for someone to really hit me. There are other things where being how I am is a disadvantage. Hopefully it all adds up okay, but even if it doesn't there's nothing to be done. Trying to rail against nature or reality is pointless.
All that said do not put me as believing in things I don't. I'm well-aware women abuse men and I'm supportive of more help for such men. However this doesn't mean pretending a tiny woman slapping a big man, provided no weapon is involved, is the same as the reverse. In the cases I know the women did not abuse the man by slapping him. (Except maybe cases where the man is elderly or disabled) The woman abused the man by throwing objects at him, beating him with weapons, running him over with a car, and so forth. If you look at some old shows it was seen as "funny" for women to hit their husbands with frying pans or even throw knives at them. I think this is no longer acceptable in TV or film and if it is it shouldn't be. It's not right to indicate it's okay to give a man a concussion or threaten his life because "he deserves it." However a slap seems relatively benign to me provided it's clear the man is not going to be harmed by it. (If the character is say a hemophiliac than the woman slapping him is an irresponsible creep putting him in real danger)
But in that case (using your example) you wouldn't walk up and punch me just because you didn't expect me to punch you back. You would practice a bit of self preservation or common sense or whatever you want to call it and not hit me in the first place. Women (a generalization I know) on the other hand do it and are shocked when they get slapped back.
I've never hit someone first in my life and am not a very violent person but when struck I do strike back.
For weeks, the previews for the new show, "The Good Wife", kept replaying a scene where the female main character hauls off and smacks her husband across the face* -- hard.
On last Sunday's episode of "Desperate Housewives", the new female character on the block hauled off and punched her husband in the face -- hard.
And today on Rachel Ray they showed a clip from the show "Twilight", where a female character punches one of the male characters in the face -- hard.
And in all three cases, it was without repercussion, as if this were a perfectly natural and acceptable response to whatever the men had done. What? The? Hell?
What's up with depicting such despicable behavior? If the husbands or men in these shows smacked or punched their wives or women, there would be a public uproar. Women's groups would be organizing boycotts. Why don't we even bat an eyelash when it's women beating on men?
*And this was precisely why I refused to ever tune in to that show.
Just reading the title to this thread made my neck bristle, because I have very strong feelings about this. I do not think it is okay for a woman to ever hit a man unless she's defending herself ~ Period!
As soon as a woman slaps or clobbers a guy ~ with fist OR open hand ~ she is challenging him as an equal, and the war is on. Stupid *****es.
On the other hand, any woman watching "Desperate Housewives" that gets influenced by anything has already got a very serious problem of her own.
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