[isetcappa]

Gentlemen,

In light of BBD's recent post concerning violence at a Superbowl party, I felt it was important to post this...

I used to volunteer at the Abused Women's Services Center and Superbowl Sunday is the day that we would receive the greatest number of calls. Please make sure you keep yourselve's under control and remember it's just a game. If you're gambling on the contest then only use recreational funds.

Understand what it means to be a man and that it does not include abusing women.

I hope everyone really enjoys the game, and if you get a chance, stop by the 'Football' section of the Forum and take a look at my pick which I will post sometime tomorrow.

[isetcap]

My girl tells me about this and I chuckle a little bit, but she's right. There really isn't ever an excuse for any abuse toward women unless you are a woman yourself.

I just hope she doesn't beat me up if her pick doesn't come in! Maybe I should have her work at the Center again tomorrow?!?!

[spanky]

i'll say a prayer in church for all the woman in the pacific north west.

[raiders72001]

disgusting but true although I can name a couple of SBR posters that should be slapped around.

[Ganchrow]

Although domestic violence is certainly deplorable, it seems the notion that the volume of calls to women's shelters and hotlines increases on Superbowl Sunday is little more than urban legend. Here's a snippet from a well-footnoted Snopes article debunking the apparent myth:

The claim that Super Bowl Sunday is "the biggest day of the year for violence against women" demonstrates how easily an idea congruous with what people want to believe can be implanted in the public consciousness and anointed as "fact" even when it has been fabricated out of whole cloth.

Domestic violence has been a problem all too often ignored, covered up, and swept under the rug. Many well-intentioned and successful efforts have been made in the last few decades to bring the issue to public attention — to get the word out to women that they need not suffer silent, helpless, and alone; to advertise that there are organizations victims can turn to for help and support; and to educate others in spotting the signs of abuse. Unfortunately, nearly every cause will encompass a sub-group of advocates who, either through deliberate disingenuousness or earnest gullibility, end up spreading "noble lies" in the furtherance of that cause. The myth of Super Bowl Sunday violence is one such noble lie.

...

It turned out that Super Bowl Sunday was not a significantly different day for those who monitor domestic abuse hotlines and staff battered women's shelters:

[Connecticut and Ohio examples given]

The ensuing weeks and months saw a fair amount of backpedalling by those who had propagated the Super Bowl Sunday violence myth, but — as usual — the retractions and corrections received far less attention than the sensational-but-false stories everyone wanted to believe, and the bogus Super Bowl statistic remains a widely-cited and believed piece of misinformation. As Sommers concluded, "How a belief in that misandrist canard can make the world a better place for women is not explained."

For documentation see the full article.

[pags11]

I hope Bobby Cox doesn't watch the super bowl with his wife tommorrow...