The Woods Saga and DV

The fallout over the SNL skit illustrates my problem with the coverage of the Tiger Woods drama. My problems are multiple, but the first is that people are making light of the situation when Tiger was allegedly sporting scratch marks on his face. Additionally, Tiger says that his wife was trying to save him, but two plus two makes four all day long. That woman (allegedly) scratched his face, and was chasing him out of the house with a golf club, which probably why he crashed his truck into a tree and fire hydrant at 2:30 in the morning. Despite his statement that she was trying to liberate him from the car, it seems as though the more plausible explanation, especially after the surfacing of multiple mistresses, is that she was angry with him over his infidelity.

My second problem with the story is Tiger's attempt to cover up the truth. I understand that he is embarrassed, but the truth will set you free. His evasion of the police by refusing to talk to them, just gives credence to the rumor that his wife scratched up his face. If the police saw this they would have to file a report, whether he pressed charges or not, because they have a duty to protect citizens from violence (not that they always do). Furthermore, Tiger's justification for not talking to police, angers me because he is authorizing domestic violence through the right to privacy. By that I mean, that his statement that he should be able to handle this as a private matter authorizes the ability of those in power to cover up unlawful and violent activity because of their status in society. Basically, he called on his celebrity and masculinity to enable privacy in a situation where people were harmed. See if the police let you, average joe citizen, tell them when they can or cannot do their job and you will probably wind up in handcuffs. This is ironic because women had to work very hard to get domestic violence to be seen as more than a private matter by getting law enforcement and law-makers to understand that violence within a marriage is violence against citizens. This took a lot of work because women/wives were seen as property of their husbands and as property law goes in this country, you can do whatever you want to your private property. In 1976, Nebraska made marital rape illegal which helped to change the discourse on women as property. Although women's groups had been working on the issue of domestic violence for many years before this change, it represents a major change in the law and public policy towards women. In 1977,

Washington State Supreme Court makes a landmark decision in State v. Wanrow declaring that a woman defendant's right to equal protection under the law in a murder trial was violated by instructions that require a woman's conduct be measured against that of a reasonable man finding himself in the same circumstances. The use of commensurate force and the perception of an imminent danger might be different for a woman, who is entitled to have the jury consider her actions in that light. Thus the reasonable woman standard. This is the beginning of the battered women's syndrome defense. (from http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/herstory/herstory.html)

The decision by the Washington State Supreme Court decision is important because it allows women to be judged by the reasonable standard of someone in their position, rather than being judged against the actions of men, who are privileged in US society. Furthermore, it introduces battered woman syndrome to the court to enable lawyers to argue that women sometimes go back to situations that are dangerous because they percieve that there is no other option. Tiger might just have battered person's syndrome.


The third problem I have with this situation is that the media and Tiger are making light of the violence that Elin dealt to Tiger. Just because she is a thin blond woman does not mean that what she did was right. Tiger could have died in that car crash. And if she did scratch his face, think about what might have happened if she was attacking him with a golf club.

Although I understand her rage at Tiger, scratching his face and chasing him with a golf club are unacceptable. With my last partner, I had moments where my partner purposely did things to keep me feeling jealous and insecure. I would get so mad I felt like I could have exploded. One time I did explode and I shoved her during an argument. But instead of making that a permenant mode of interaction, I talked it out with friends, my therapist, and family members. And eventually, I realized that this person could not meet my needs, so I ended it.

My wish is that Elin gets her self-esteem in order and decides what is best based on her self-worth, not Tiger's public image.