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Tess Catalano "Take Back the Night" and other academic essays, 1982

Take back the night assignment Page 4

and a rapist are precisely the same as the stereotyped dynamics of men's and women's "roles" in our everyday lives. The only difference is in the character of the violence and degree to which the violence manifests itself in any situation. Attempts to prevent or stop a women-only event is an attempt to maintain power. Only by addressing these issues of power can men begin to comprehend violence against women. Men must confront these issues before attempts can be made to work with women as equals. 
   It is not to say that support from men is not needed. Yet the support must be on the terms of the oppressed and victimized group. At this point in the anti-violence movement what women need is "safe space" where they can publicly air their feelings and experiences about the violence that threatens them daily. "Safe" in this context, means separate from men, so that when expressing their feelings about violence against them, women won't have to worry about whether men will be hurt, threatened or angry. Attempts by men to interfere in any way with this process have the effect of silencing women from speaking out publicly and acknowledging their own victimization. Even if men offer support by helping to make the space safe, they are offering their support in terms of "protection" and thus merely reinforcing the stereotyped roles of men as "protectors" and women as "victims."
   To date no men's group has addressed these issues of sexism as they relate to violence against women. Nor have they organized to themselves to work on the issue of male violence. Further, attempts to disrupt events like Take Back the Night continue to drain the patience and energies of women working on issues of violence against women, and thus only serve to harm the anti-violence/anti-sexism movement. It is important that men begin to do this work. It is also important that they acknowledge

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and a rapist are precisely the same as the stereotyped dynamics of men's and women's "roles" in our everyday lives. The only difference is in the character of the violence and degree to which the violence manifests itself in any situation. Attempts to prevent or stop a women-only event is an attempt to maintain power. Only by addressing these issues of power can men begin to comprehend violence against women. Men must confront these issues before attempts can be made to work with women as equals. It is not to say that support from men is not needed. Yet the support must be on the terms of the oppressed and victimized group. At this point in the anti-violence movement what women need is "safe space" where they can publicly air their feelings and experiences about the violence that threatens them daily. "Safe" in this context, means separate from men, so that when expressing their feelings about violence against them, women won't have to worry about whether men will be hurt, threatened or angry. Attempts by men to interfere in any way with this process have the effect of silencing women from speaking out publicly and acknowledging their own victimization. Even if men offer support by helping to make the space safe, they are offering their support in terms of "protection" and thus merely reinforcing the stereotyped roles of men as "protectors" and women as "victims." To date no men's group has addressed these issues of sexism as they relate to violence against women. Nor have they organized to themselves to work on the issue of male violence. Further, attempts to disrupt events like Take Back the Night continue to drain the patience and energies of women working on issues of violence against women, and thus only serve to harm the anti-violence/anti-sexism movement. It is important that men begin to do this work. It is also important that they acknowledge