Craig Sprout at MTPolitics sent me a link to a Billings Gazette piece in which the male reactions in a study done on a 2006 domestic violence media campaign, created at MSU Billings surprised Sarah Keller, the assistant professor of communications who conducted the study. A spokesperson for The Billings Area Family Violence Task Force was also surprised.
Men didn’t like the campaign, and here’s why:
The ads were anti-male, had a heavily blaming tone and used the typical manipulation of statistics that has become common in the DV industry. (Yes, it’s probably true that 47% of women were killed by intimate partners in MT in 2005, but this tends to be typical of murders of both genders, and does not necessarily relate to a scenario of pattern abuse. And no, there is no evidence to back up the claim that “1 in 3†women are victims of DV, in any state or country. It is an invention designed to shock, and nothing more.)
The implication of the entire campaign was, “not only men, but little boys too, are responsible for ALL domestic violence. Every woman is at risk, so be prepared!†The TV ads were poorly acted and produced, showing that almost no research had been done into the issue. Just one of them was almost more than I could take. I’ve seen a lot of DV campaigns in the last eight years, and this one ranks right up at the top as the nastiest, most irresponsible work I’ve seen.
You can see the ads in their entirety here.
Even after doing the study, Keller still doesn’t get it. She has two theories on why men responded as they did, and only one makes any sense – that men don’t like the stereotype. Well, of course they don’t, especially when you consider among them are as many victims as there are among women.
So let’s give her a third theory: the campaign told only part of the story, and told it badly. There were four print ads, and four for TV. Had one of each featured a male victim, and one of each featured mutual violence with no obvious victim, then the reality of the issue of DV may have been presented in a more accurate, and responsible fashion. Men as well as women would have had positive reactions to the campaign.
At least she tried, and Professor Keller is to be applauded for at least looking into it. And in case anyone at Montana State or at BAFVTF would like to see some real information, and not just spin, they could start here. Maybe the truth will open their eyes!
{ 1 comment }
Yes, it’s probably true that 47% of women were killed by intimate partners in MT in 2005
Nearly half of the women in MT were killed in 2005? No, it probably isn’t true.
Comments on this entry are closed.