women are just as likely as men to start a fight, Justice Department figures released last February reveal that women are the victims 11 times more often than men. Battering is also a problem among gay couples: the National Coalition on Domestic Violence estimates that almost one in three same sex relationships are abusive, seemingly more than among heterosexual couples. But violence against women is so entrenched that in 1992 the Surgeon General ranked abuse by husbands and partners as the leading cause of injuries to women aged 15 to 44. Despite more hot lines and shelters and heightened awareness, the number of assaults against women has remained about the same over the last decade. (Cowley, 1994, p. 26)
A recent TV panel discussion about the Laurence Phillips incident brought athlete violence against women to national attention yet once again. On the panel was Mariah Burton Nelson, a former pro basketball player, and now the author of the book, The Stronger Women Get, the More Men Love Football. Laurence Phillips, a football player of national stature, who dragged a female down a flight of stairs by her hair, was the subject of discussion.
Rapping (1994, p. 35) reports that Nelson's book "reveals some shocking facts and statistics on the brutally sexist culture of male professional sports, and encourages women to get physically strong themselves." Rapping (1994) calls Nelson's book, "must-read stuff for all young girls, and, perhaps more importantly, young boys" (p. 35). One of Nelson's quotations concerning a disturbing double standard puts the entire matter into clear perspective:
If O. J. Simpson had assaulted Al Cowlings nine times [the number of times Simpson allegedly assaulted Nicole Brown Simpson], and if A. C. called the police, O. J. couldn't have told them, 'This is a family matter' . . . Hertz and NBC would have dropped him and said, 'This man has a terrible problem.' But family violence is accept...