Society's vindication of the wife-batterer.

(Editor's comment: Del Martin is the woman most identified with the attack on wife-battering; she is the author of the first major and the most definitive book on this subject, she has achieved recognition as an authority and a source of help, and she has appeared by im'itation on programs of the American Sociological Association and the American Psychiatric Association on this subject, Her article calls for a new and a more serious approach to the problem and for the recognition that this problem interrelates with other problems that women face, J .R.) I would like to start by reading an excerpt of a letter from a battered wife that a friend of mine received after discussing wife-beating at a puldic meeting: I am in my thirties and so is my husband. I have a high school diploma and ,{m presently attending a'local college, trying to obtain the additional education I need. Mv husband is a college graduate and a professional in his field, We are 'both attracti\'C and, for the most part, respected and well-liked, We have four children and lin: in a middle-cL:tss homc with all the comforts we could possibly want. I have e\'crything, except life without fear. For most of my married life I have been periodically beaten bl' my husband. What do I mean In' "beaten"? I mean that parts of m~' bod~' have been hit violently and repeatedly, and that painful bruises, s\velling, bleeding wounds, unconsciousness, and combinations of these things have resulted. Beating should be distinguished from all other kinds of physical abuse-including beincr hit and shoved around. When I say my husband threatens me witl1 abu~e I do not mean he warns me th~{t h~ may lose Control. I mean that he shakes a fist against my face or nose, makes punching-bag jabs at my shoulder, or makes similar gestures which may quickly turn into a full-tledgcd beating. I ha vc had glasses thrown at me. 1 ha\'e been kicked in the abdomen when I was visibly pregnant. I ha\'e been kicked oft" the bed and hit °DeI ,"artin i, a \trong woman an.1 a stron>: feminiq who has been identified with national and with San Francisco efforts to deal with famil\' violence. She has been coordinator of the National Organi/atioll for \\'ollll'n\ Natiollal I~,k hHce on Battered Women/Household Violence, Chairpersoll of the San Franci,co Commi"ion OIl the StanJ' of Womell, and …