The backlash against gender-sensitive responses to women's victimization, offending, and imprisonment is inseparable from contemporary reaction against feminism and other progressive movements. The backlash against the American Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides a prime example of this resistance. Despite widespread support for VAWA and other policies designed to address violence against women, some constituencies object to their existence. The author investigates fathers' rights rhetoric on VAWA as an example of antifeminist backlash.
Adams, D. (1989, July/August). Identifying the assaultive husband in court: You be the judge. Boston Bar Journal, 33-34.
2.
American Civil Liberties Union (2005). Amendment attached to the Violence Against Women Act would invade the privacy of innocent Americans by collecting and storing their DNA. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.aclu.org/crimjustice/gen/20231prs20050929.html
3.
American Coalition for Fathers and Children ( 2005). Open letter to members of Congress on the Violence Against Women Act. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/acfcAd0721005v2.pdf?docID=141
4.
American Medical Association (2000). Featured report: Women's health: Sex- and gender-based differences in health and disease. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13607.html
5.
Anderson, K.L., & Umberson, D. (2001). Gendering violence: Masculinity and power in men's accounts of domestic violence. Gender & Society, 15(3), 358-380.
6.
Angry Harry (2006). Darren Mack. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.angryharry.com/esDarrenMack.htm
7.
Anti-Feminist Political Party (2007). Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=251790885
8.
Archer, J. (2000). Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(5), 660-696.
9.
Bancroft, L., & Silverman, J.G. (2002). The batterer as parent: Addressing the impact of domestic violence on family dynamics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Baskerville, S. (2003). Divorce as revolution. Salisbury Review, 21(4), 30-32. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://www.stephenbaskerville.net/divorce_as_revolution.htm
11.
Baskerville, S. (2007). Serious problems at ACFC: An open letter to the board. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/09/07/serious-problems-at-acfc-an-open-letter-to-the-board/
12.
Bertoia, C.E. (1996). Identities under siege: The fathers' rights movement . Unpublished doctoral dissertation, McMaster University , Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
13.
Bertoia, C.E., & Drakich, J. (1993). The father's rights movement: Contradictions in rhetoric and practice. Journal of Family Issues, 14(4), 592-615.
14.
Blackwell, B.S., & Vaughan, M.S. (2003). Police civil liability for inappropriate response to domestic assault victims. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31(2), 129-146.
15.
Blumhorst v. Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles, 126 Cal. App. 4th 993 (2005).
16.
Booth v. Hvass, 302 F.3d 849, 851 (8th Circuit 2002).
17.
Boyd, S.B. (2003). Child custody, law, and women's work. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
18.
Boyd, S.B. (2006). "Robbed of their families"? Fathers' rights discourses in Canadian parenting law reform processes. In R. Collier & S. Sheldon (Eds.), Fathers'rights activism and law reform in comparative perspective (pp. 27-52). Portland, OR: Hart.
Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women and rape. New York: Bantam Books.
21.
Buchbinder, E., & Eisikovits, Z. (2004). Between normality and deviance: The breakdown of batterers' identity following police intervention . Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(4), 443-467.
22.
Buchwald, E.,Fletcher, P.,Roth, M. (Eds.). ( 1994). Transforming a rape culture. Minneapolis : Milkweed Editions.
23.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (2000a). Intimate homicide: Homicide trends in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
24.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (2000b). Trends by gender: Homicide trends in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
25.
Buzawa, E. S., & Buzawa, C. G. (Eds.). (1996). Do arrests and restraining orders work?Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
26.
California Office of the Attorney General ( 1999). Report on arrests for domestic violence in California, 1998. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://caag.state.ca.us/cjsc/publications/misc/dv98.pdf
27.
California Women's Law Center (2003). Lawsuit against women's shelters dismissed: A victory for common sense and justice. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.cwlc.org/pr_shelter_victory.pdf
28.
Cavanagh, K., Dobash, R.E., Dobash, R.P., & Lewis, R. (2001). "Remedial work": Men's strategic responses to their violence against intimate female partners. Sociology , 35(3), 695-714.
29.
Chesney-Lind, M. (2006). Patriarchy, crime, and justice in an era of backlash . Feminist Criminology, 1(1), 6-26.
30.
Christian Party (2006). The truth about VAWA: The "Violence Against Women Act." Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://christianparty.net/vawa.htm
31.
Collier, R., & Sheldon, S. (Eds.). (2006). Fathers'rights activism and law reform in comparative perspective. Portland, OR : Hart.
32.
Crowley, J.E. (2006). Adopting "equality tools" from the toolboxes of their predecessors: The fathers' rights movement in the United States. In R. Collier & S. Sheldon (Eds.), Fathers'rights activism and law reform in comparative perspective (pp. 79-100). Portland, OR: Hart.
33.
Cudd, A.E. (2002). Analyzing backlash to progressive social movements . In A. M. Superson & A. E. Cudd (Eds.), Theorizing backlash (pp. 3-16). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
34.
Dadslaw Inc: The Fathers' Rights Attorney Group ( 2007). How are women and mothers abusing the domestic violence justice system in family law matters? Available from http://www.dadslaw.com/PracticeAreas/Restraining-Orders.asp
35.
Daly, M. (1978). Gyn/Ecology: The metaethics of radical feminism . Boston, MA: Beacon.
36.
DeKeseredy, W.S. (1999). Tactics of the antifeminist backlash against Canadian national woman abuse surveys. Violence Against Women, 5(11), 1238-1257.
37.
DeKeseredy, W.S., & Dragiewicz, M. (2007). Understanding the complexities of feminist perspectives on woman abuse: A commentary on Donald G. Dutton's Rethinking domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 13(8), 874-884.
38.
DeKeseredy, W.S., & Kelly, K. (1993). Woman abuse in university and college dating relationships: The contribution of ideology and familial patriarchy. The Journal of Human Justice, 4(2), 25-52.
39.
DeKeseredy, W.S., & Schwartz, M.D. (1998). Measuring the extent of woman abuse in intimate heterosexual relationships: A critique of the conflict tactics scales. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/vawnet/ctscritique/ctscritique.html
40.
DeKeseredy, W.S., & Schwartz, M.D. (2005). Backlash and whiplash: A critique of Statistics Canada's 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization . Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://sisyphe.org/article.php3?id_article=1689
41.
DeKeseredy, W.S., Schwartz, M.D., Fagen, D., & Hall, M. (2006). Separation/divorce sexual assault: The contribution of male peer support. Feminist Criminology, 1(3), 228-250.
42.
Doyle, R. (1995). Men's manifesto. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://christianparty.net/rdoyle.htm
43.
Dragiewicz, M. (2000). Women's voices, women's words: Reading acquaintance rape discourse. In M. Frye & S. L. Hoagland (Eds.), Feminist interpretations of Mary Daly (pp. 194-222). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
44.
Drakich, J. (1989). In search of the better parent: The social construction of ideologies of fatherhood. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 3(1), 69-87.
45.
Dutton, D. (2006). Rethinking domestic violence. Vancouver: UBC Press.
46.
Eisikovits, Z., Goldblatt, H., & Winstok, Z. (1999). Partner accounts of intimate violence: Towards a theoretical model. Families in Society, 80(6), 606-618.
47.
Faludi, S. (1991). Backlash: The undeclared war against American women. New York: Crown.
48.
Family Violence Prevention Fund (2002). Independent women's forum leader joins violence against women advisory committee . Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://endabuse.org/programs/printable/display.php3?NewsFlashID=359
49.
Farmer, A., & Tiefenthaler, J. (2003). Explaining the recent decline in domestic violence. Contemporary Economic Policy , 21(2), 158-172.
50.
Ferber, A. (2007). Whiteness studies and the erasure of gender. Sociology Compass. 1(1), 265-282.
51.
Fidelbogen (2007). The counter-feminist. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://counterfem.blogspot.com/
52.
Fineman, M.A. (1995). The neutered mother, the sexual family, and other twentieth century tragedies. London: Routledge.
53.
Fishman, J., Wick, J., & Koenig, B. (1996). The use of "sex" and "gender" to define and characterize meaningful differences between men and women. In Agenda for Research on Women's Health for the 21st Century: A Report of the Task Force on the NIH Women's Health Research Agenda for the 21st Century, Vol. 2, (pp. 15-20). Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health.
54.
Franzen, M., & Ethiel, N. (1998). Make way! 200 years of American women in cartoons . Chicago: Chicago Review Press .
55.
Glaser, B.G., & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.
56.
Godenzi, A. (1999). Style or substance: Men's response to feminist challenge. Men and Masculinities, 1(4), 385-392.
57.
Gordon, J.S. (1996). Community services for battered women: A review of perceived usefulness and efficacy. Journal of Family Violence , 11(4), 315-329.
58.
Grauwiler, P., Pezold, N., & Mills, L.G. (2006). Justice is in the design: Creating a restorative justice treatment model for domestic violence. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://nfvlrc.org/docs/GrauwilerPelzod%5B1%5D.manuscript.pdf
59.
Greenblat, C.S. (1985). "Don't hit your wife . . . unless . . .": Preliminary findings on normative support for the use of physical force by husbands. Victimology: An International Journal, 10(1-4), 221-241.
60.
Hardesty, J.L. (2002). Separation assault in the context of postdivorce parenting: An integrative review of the literature. Violence Against Women, 8(5), 597-625.
61.
Hearn, J., & Morgan, D. H. J. (Eds.). (1990). Men, masculinities and social theory: Critical studies in men and masculinities. London: Unwin Hyman.
62.
Heise, L.L. (1998). Violence against women: An integrated, ecological framework. Violence Against Women, 4(3), 262-290.
63.
Iyengar, R., & Sabik, L. (2006). Domestic violence counts: A 24-hour census of domestic violence shelters and services across the United States. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.nnedv.org/census/DVCounts2006/DVCounts06_Report.pdf
64.
Jaffe, P.G., & Crooks, C.V. (2004). Partner violence and child custody cases: A cross-national comparison of legal reforms and issues. Violence Against Women , 10(8), 917-934.
65.
Johnson, M.P., & Ferraro, K.J. (2000). Research on domestic violence in the 1990s: Making distinctions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 948-963.
66.
Johnson, N.E., Saccuzzo, D.P., & Koen, W.J. (2005). Child custody mediation in cases of domestic violence: Empirical evidence of a failure to protect. Violence Against Women, 11(8), 1022-1053.
67.
Johnston, J.R., Lee, S., Olesen, N.W., & Walters, M.G. (2005). Allegations and substantiations of abuse in custody-disputing families. Family Court Review, 43(2), 284-294.
68.
Kaufman, S.W., & Davis, A.K. (2006). The gender impact of the proposed Michigan civil rights initiative. Ann Arbor: The Center for the Education of Women, University of Michigan. Retrieved January 8, 2008, from http://www.nursing.umich.edu/oma/mcri/full_gender_report.pdf
69.
Kaye, M., & Tolmie, J. (1998). Discoursing dads: The rhetorical devices of fathers' rights groups. Melbourne University Law Review, 22, 162-194.
70.
Kimmel, M.S. (2002). "Gender symmetry" in domestic violence: A substantive and methodological research review. Violence Against Women , 8(11), 1332-1363.
71.
Kozol, W. (1995). Fracturing domesticity: Media, nationalism, and the question of feminist influence. Signs, 20(3), 646-667.
72.
Lafferty, M. (2006). Perceived injustice can lead to violence. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www .newsreview.com/reno/Content?oid=oid%3A68028
73.
LaSalle, M. (2007). Comment posted September 10, 2007 at 7:52 pm. Downloaded September 14, 2007, from http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/09/07/serious-problems-at-acfc-an-open-letter-to-the-board/
74.
Leving, J.M., & Sacks, G. (2006). Simpson case led to harmful domestic violence policies. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.glennsacks.com/simpson_case_led.htm
75.
Lorber, J. (2005). Breaking the bowls: Degendering and feminist change . New York: Norton.
76.
Maccoby, E.E., & Mnookin, R.H. (1992). Dividing the child: Social and legal dilemmas of custody. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
77.
Malenfant, L. (2001). Men don't matter. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.dvmen.org/dv-16.htm
78.
Mann, R.M. (2005). Fathers' rights, feminism, and Canadian divorce law reform: 1998-2003. Studies in Law, Politics, and Society35, 31-65.
79.
Maxwell, C.D., Garner, J.H., & Fagan, J.A. (2001). The effects of arrest on intimate partner violence: New evidence from the spouse assault replication program. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188199.pdf
80.
Meier, J.S. (2005). Rate of domestic violence in contested custody cases. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://stopfamilyviolence.org/ocean/host.php?page=291
81.
Meier, J.S. (2006). Most cases going to court as high conflict contested custody cases have history of domestic violence. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://66.230.220.100/*kourtsforkids.org/httpdocs/index2.php?option=content&do_pdf=1&id=494
82.
Menzies, R. (2007). Virtual backlash: Representations of men's "rights" and feminist "wrongs" in cyberspace. In D. E. Chunn, S. B. Boyd, & H. Lessard (Eds.), Reaction and resistance: Feminism, law, and social change (pp. 65-97). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
83.
Miller, S.L. (2001). The paradox of women arrested for domestic violence: Criminal justice professionals and service providers respond. Violence Against Women, 7(12), 1339-1376.
84.
Morrill, A.C., Dai, J., Dunn, S., Sung, I., & Smith, K. (2006). Child custody and visitation decisions when the father has perpetrated violence against the mother. Violence Against Women, 11(8), 1076-1107.
85.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2007). A judicial checklist for children and youth exposed to violence. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.safestartcenter.org/pdf/childandyouth_checklist.pdf
86.
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence ( 1998). Incidence rates of violence against women: A comparison of the redesigned national crime victimization survey and the 1985 national family violence survey. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.vawnet.org/VNL/library/general/AR_incidence.html
87.
Newson, J. (1991). Backlash against feminism: A disempowering metaphor . Resources for Feminist Research, 20(3/4), 93-97.
88.
Oakley, A. (1972). Sex, gender, and society. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
89.
O'Dell, A. (1996). Domestic violence homicides. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.sandiegodvunit.org/article4.htm
90.
Osthoff, S. (2002). But, Gertrude, I beg to differ, a hit is not a hit is not a hit: When battered women are arrested for assaulting their partners . Violence Against Women, 8(12), 1521-1544.
91.
Pizzey, E. (2006). Domestic violence is not a gender issue. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0719pizzey.html
92.
Ptacek, J. (1988). Why do men batter their wives? In K. Yllö & M. Bograd (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on wife abuse (pp. 133-57). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
93.
Rabinovitch, D. (2001). Domestic violence can't be a gender issue. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://fathersforlife.org/pizzey/genderless.htm
94.
Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting ( 2006a). VAWA programs discriminate against male victims. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Discriminates-Against-Males.pdf
95.
Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting ( 2006b). Without restraint: The use and abuse of domestic restraining orders. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/VAWA-Restraining-Orders.pdf
96.
Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting ( 2007). A culture of false allegations: How VAWA harms families and children. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARreport-VAWA-A-Culture-of-False-Allegations.pdf
97.
Robbins, P.C. (2006). Men are screwed. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://relationships.blog-city.com/on_mens_rights_and_issues.htm
98.
Rosen, L., Dragiewicz, M., & Gibbs, J. (November, 2007). Fathers'rights groups in the U.S.: Demographic correlates and impact on custody policy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA.
99.
Rosen, L., & O'Sullivan, C. (2005). Outcomes of custody and visitation petitions when fathers are restrained by protection orders: The case of the New York family courts. Violence Against Women , 11(8), 1054-1075.
100.
Safe4all (2005). Recommendations for re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act 2005. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.safe4all.org/essays/vawa2005
101.
Saunders, D.G. (2002). Are physical assaults by wives and girlfriends a major social problem? A review of the literature. Violence Against Women, 8(12), 1424-1448.
102.
Schlafly, P. (2005a). Time to defund feminist pork-The hate-men law . Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2005/oct05/psroct05.html
103.
Schlafly, P. (2005b) What have feminists done to America's fathers? Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=7713
104.
Schneider, E. (2000). Battered women and feminist lawmaking. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
105.
Schwartz, M.D., & DeKeseredy, W.S. (1997). Sexual assault on the college campus: The role of male peer support. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage.
106.
Scoon-Rogers, L., & Lester, G.H. (1995). Child support for custodial mothers and fathers: 1991. Retrieved January 1, 2008, from http://www.2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-187.pdf
107.
Smart, C. (2006). Preface. In R. Collier & S. Sheldon (Eds.), Fathers' rights activism and law reform in comparative perspective (pp. vii-xii). Portland, OR: Hart.
108.
Straus, M.A. (1999). Characteristics of the National Violence Against Women Study that might explain the low assault rate for both sexes and the even lower rate for assaults by women. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.batteredmen.com/straus22.htm
109.
Strauss, A.L., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
110.
Thoennes, N., & Tjaden, P. (1990). The extent, nature and validity of sexual abuse allegations in custody/ visitation disputes. Child Abuse and Neglect, 14(2), 151-163.
111.
Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Prevalence and consequences of male-to-female and female-to-male intimate partner violence as measured by the National Violence Against Women Survey. Violence Against Women, 6(2), 142-161.
112.
U.S. Census Bureau (1995). Who receives child support? Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/statbriefs/chldsupp.html
113.
Usher, D.R. (2005). U.S. Senate reauthorizes feminist man hating bill (also posted on other sites as: U.S. Senate reauthorizes organized robbery and child abuse). Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.newswithviews.com/Usher/david5.htm
114.
Varcoe, C., & Irwin, L.G. (2004). "If I killed you, I'd get the kids": Women's survival and protection work with child custody and access in the context of woman abuse. Qualitative Sociology, 27(1), 77-99.
115.
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (2000). Public Law106-386.
116.
Violence Against Women Act (1994). Public Law103-332.
117.
Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (2005). Public Law109-162.
118.
Waits, K. (2003). Feminist lawmaking online: The FIVERS domestic violence listserv. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law, 11(2), 877-920.
119.
Walby, S. (1990). Theorizing patriarchy. Oxford : Basil Blackwell.
120.
Walby, S. (1993). Backlash in historical context. In M. Kennedy, C. Lubelska, & V. Walsh (Eds.), Making connections: Women's studies, women's movements, women's lives (pp. 79-89). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
121.
Websdale, N. (1999). Understanding domestic homicide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
122.
Weedon, C. (1987). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory . Malden, MA: Blackwell.
123.
White, J.W., Smith, P.H., Koss, M.P., & Figueredo, A.J. (2000). Intimate partner aggression: What have we learned?Comment on Archer (2000 ). Psychological Bulletin, 126(5), 697-726.
124.
Williamson, G.M., & Silverman, J.G. (2001). Violence against female partners: Direct and interactive effects of family history, communal orientation, and peer-related variables. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18(4), 535-549.
125.
Wollstonecraft, M. (2004). A vindication of the rights of woman (Rev. ed.) . New York: Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1792; Boston: Thomas and Andrews)
126.
Zorza, J. (1994). Must we stop arresting batterers? New England Law Review, 28(4), 929-990.
127.
Zorza, J. (2007). The "Friendly Parent" concept: Another gender biased legacy from Richard Gardner. Domestic Violence Report , 12(5), 65-78.
