As with many myths, there is a small core of fact surrounded by an accretion of error. Nevertheless, their rulings seemed to tolerate the notion that men had a measure of latitude in physically chastising their wives. Fortunately, as Pleck takes pains to remind us, they were not representative of judicial opinion in the rest of the country. Blackstone saw nothing unreasonable about the wife-beating law. As those working in the social services and the shelters well know, helping battered women is as difficult as it is exigent.
Resources are limited, and strategies for help are often controversial.
On a wider canvas, we need good legislation and good public policy as well as funds earmarked toward the problem. But sound public policy on battery cannot be made without credible and trustworthy information. In promulgating sensational untruths, the gender feminists systematically diminish public trust. Experts concerned about battery and devoted to alleviating it are worried. Until the 19th Century, there was a charming little rule of thumb that applied to family life.