Ask some men why they hit women and many will swear they are provoked, and some people would agree that some women do possess a seditious behavior that summons a man to swing on them. As horrible an act as it may be for a man possessing twice the strength of a female to assert violence against that female, reason struggles against human nature when questioning this act.

Of the many emotions we as humans' experience, there are a few that take control regardless of how hard we attempt to sustain that emotion. For example, anger, jealousy, and hatred are emotions that by nature are more difficult to bring under control than say sadness or grief. Though there are times where the latter two can overwhelm some people, the former are ones that when nurtured long enough, can develop into obsessions that determine our every action.

In a situation of a man and woman having an argument about the most menial thing, harbored anger, jealousy, frustration or resentment can be brought to a serious fume through the art of emotional manipulation. If a woman knows how far to go with a man or what buttons to push, she can and will use that knowledge to infuriate him to the breaking point or right before, and vise versa, but rarely vise versa. Most times, it is the man that attacks the woman thus we have an abusive male.

Now, not to take these words the wrong way, men who hit women should be classified on the same level as men who abuse children- sexually and/or physically, as infidels and sociopathological misfits. (A man who hits a woman is obviously not using his mind but obeying his emotions). And many men are not as emotionally strong as others and do not have proper knowledge of controlling their feelings. On the other hand, many women are not as knowledgeable about when to digress in an argument with a man nor of what artillery to use in an argument. Or vise versa.

If the two are ignorant in either area, there will definitely be a fight because neither has complete control over their own feelings, yet more so over the other's. Only when either of the two are mature and do understand the boundaries and intensity of their emotions and the other's, will there be less of a chance of an abusive encounter. Knowing self (what you will and will not tolerate in a relationship beforehand) is primary in controlling self and knowing the limits of the other comes next.

If a woman has the right ammunition to fuel the fires of an argument and that man is not mentally prepared to defend against her attack, he will blow and possibly hurt her. If the woman knows she has the ammunition yet proceeds anyway, she sets herself up for an attack and if the man attacks, though he is wrong for attacking, she is wrong for provoking the attack because she loaded the gun, even though he pulled the trigger. Now she is the victim and he is the abuser.

Some men are simply too insecure and unsure about their manhood and it does not take a woman to provoke him, he is just an abusive man, and it is this type man who deserves just punishment. Yet there is a scientific and psychological difference in profile of a man who becomes the victim of mental and emotional manipulation, especially by a woman that knows what she is doing. It is these women that the American judicial system has as of yet profiled as domestically criminal.

In a society that thinks on the surface, there is no real justice, only justice based on stipulated definitions of criminal activity. Without understanding of the human mind, soul, and spirit, society will remain in a primitive state of being regardless of how high we stretch technology, academia, or science.

Human behavior acts only out of response to the surrounding society. If the pattern of abuse toward women has escalated over time, it is not because men are naturally abusive, but because the social demands and stigmas of society have intervened into the relationship of men and women. From the beginning of time, man has abused women and this will be a factor until the last day of humanity, the revelation as to avoiding abuse in a relationship comes in knowing and understanding human behavior.

© January 2006 By CR Hamilton