Love And Violence

A critical, philosophical engagement of the psychological structures that propagate the continued oppression of women. In this book, the Italian feminist thinker Lea Melandri argues that systemic violence against women has deep psychoanalytic roots. Drawing inspiration from the work of Freud and the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Elvio Fachinelli, along with feminist practices of consciousness-raising, Melandri demonstrates how male dominance and female subservience are established by society through a binary and oppositional understanding of sex and gender. This understanding—and the oppression and violence against women that results—is inscribed in the psyches of both men and women, and is replicated anew from generation to generation. Melandri analyzes women in media, politics, philosophy, and literature to show how this plays out, and calls for awareness of these deep psychic structures and expectations formed within the dynamics of society and primary family relations. “This is a book by a seasoned, experienced, and quite committed Italian feminist thinker who has much to offer to our current context. Linking love and violence as she does, Melandri asks us to face the disturbing fact that deep, often almost atavistic, ties between son and mother, and then husband and wife, are the source both of intense bonds of love as well as furious clashes of hate and violent acting out. For this insight, and for the careful way she works out her argument in this book, Melandri should be read by an English-language audience, and this fine translation will provide the means for it to do so.” — Rebecca West, University of Chicago

Review: "Love and Violence is a detailed study of the marriage metaphor in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible and a challenge to the use of that metaphor for depicting the relationship between God and Israel. It examines the ways in which the metaphor is rooted in gender assumptions of the ancient world and the inherent tension in the usage of the marriage metaphor in ancient Israel, as well as in today's church and society."--BOOK JACKET

This treatise articulates Tolstoy's famous dictum that it is morally superior to suffer violence than to do violence — a philosophy that has inspired Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and countless others.

This work proposes a model for choosing the right intervention to solve the problems which are brought to therapy. The emphasis is on how to understand and control the many forms of violence (including incest and sexual abuse) that constitute a primary therapeutic problem of our time.

These selections from the sermons and writings of Archbishop Oscar Romero shared the message of a great holy prophet of modern times. Three short years transformed Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, from a conservative defender of the status quo into one of the church's most outspoken voices of the oppressed. Though silenced by an assassin's bullet, his spirit and the challenge of his life lives on.

A groundbreaking book that has grown out of over 30 years of research, HURTING THE ONE YOU LOVE provides an overview of theory and research on all forms of violence in intimate relationships including violence in dating relationships and marriages, incest, rape and sexual victimization, date rape, stalking, child abuse and sexual harassment. HURTING THE ONE YOU LOVE also explores how violence affects the family and others who are close to the victim, and uses criminal justice data and research as well as the research of psychologists in studying these phenomena. In addition, the text covers rape and violence prevention efforts, as well as educational programs.

Narrating Love and Violence is an ethnographic exploration of women’s stories from the Himalayan valley of Lahaul, in the region of Himachal Pradesh, India, focusing on how both, love and violence emerge (or function) at the intersection of gender, tribe, caste, and the state in India. Himika Bhattacharya privileges the everyday lives of women marginalized by caste and tribe to show how state and community discourses about gendered violence serve as proxy for caste in India, thus not only upholding these social hierarchies, but also enabling violence. The women in this book tell their stories through love, articulated as rejection, redefinition and reproduction of notions of violence and solidarity. Himika Bhattacharya centers the women’s narratives as a site of knowledge—beyond love and beyond violence. This book shows how women on the margins of tribe and caste know both, love and violence, as agents wishing to re-shape discourses of caste, tribe and community.

As her weak and battered body lay paralyzed on the mattress in her master bedroom, Michelle's boyfriend's blood dripped from the lacerations on his hands onto her bruised and mangled face. Using what little energy she had left, she broke free from his grasp and fell to her knees, begging God to forgive Paul for what he was doing and to make him stop. Paul simply laughed and replied, "God isn't going to help you now." In that instant, Michelle saw her life flash before her eyes and wondered how she got there...again. But I Love Him is a painful yet inspirational true story of a strong, independent woman caught in the horrifying cycle of domestic violence and how she got out. In this book, Michelle shares the details of her struggle with genuine honesty, taking the reader on a twisted journey of love, pain and unyielding brutality that eventually leads...to peace. Mixing statistics, research and resource with her own account, she shows just how far someone in her situation can sink, why it happens and how they can always pick themselves back up. Those who hear Michelle's story will walk away with a newfound understanding about the horrors of domestic violence, how to escape and how to build a new, healthier life. Michelle Jewsbury is an international philanthropic, speaker and author that has traveled the world as an advocate for the less fortunate. May 2014, she took her first humanitarian trip to Guatemala where she helped an orphanage on the Rio Dulce. Her next mission trip took her to Kenya, Africa with Kizimani, a non profit that focuses on bringing hope and sustainable change to impoverished communities. In 2015, she embarked in a career as Vice President for Young Vision Africa, a non-profit organization that encourages young leaders in Sierra Leone to make lasting changes in their country. Also in 2015, Michelle joined a team of people in Hyderabad, India where she worked with Back2Back at one of their orphanages. Michelle left her position with Young Vision Africa in August 2016 to focus her efforts on ending domestic violence. In July 2017, Michelle founded Unsilenced Voices, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization focused on inspiring change in communities around the globe by encouraging victims to break free and survivors to speak up about domestic violence and sexual assault. The mission of Unsilenced Voices is to provide shelter and relief to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual gender-based violence worldwide. Unsilenced Voices has been operating in Ghana and Sierra Leone where they are working to implement shelters, sensitization programs, legal assistance, vocational training, medical and counseling to survivors. The organization is currently developing essential partners in the United States to serve the greater Los Angeles area. In the entertainment industry, Michelle has worked in casting, as an agent, producer, and actress in television, film and on the stage. Michelle wrote, produced and performed a critically acclaimed play about her experience with the same title as her book. The play debuted at the largest Solo Festival on the West Coast, The White Fire SoloFest, with a nearly sold out performance in February 2016. The show, also staged in the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival, received multiple reviews and commendations. Michelle has had numerous appearances on talk shows, speaking engagements and workshops and has led multiple seminars on the harsh reality of violence against women and overcoming obstacles.

This book offers both a philosophical and psychological theory of an aspect of human love, first noted by Plato and used by Freud in developing psychoanalysis (transference love), namely, lovers as mirrors for one another, enabling them thus better to see and understand themselves and others. Shakespeare’s art makes the same appeal—theater as a communal mirror—expressing the artist holding a loving mirror for his culture at a point of transitional crisis between a shame and guilt culture. The book shows how Shakespeare’s plays offer better insights into the behavior of violent men than Freud’s, based on close empirical study of violent criminals; develops a theory of violence rooted in the moral emotions of shame and guilt; and a cultural psychology of the transition from shame to guilt cultures. The work argues that violence is, contra Freud, not an ineliminable instinct in the nature of things, requiring autocracy, but arises from patriarchally inflicted cultural injuries to the love of equals that undermine democracy, and that only a therapy based on love can address such injuries, replacing retributive with restorative justice, and populist fascist autocracy with constitutional democracy. Love, thus understood, underlies a range of disparate phenomena: the appeal of Shakespeare’s theater as a communal art; the role of love in psychoanalysis; in Augustine’s conception of love in religion (disfigured by his patriarchal assumptions); in Kant’s anti-utilitarian ethics of dignity; in a naturalistic ethics that roots ethics in facts of human psychology; the role of law in democratic cultures as a mirror and critique of such cultures; and the basis of an egalitarian theory of universal human rights (inspired by Kant and developed, more recently, by John Rawls). In all these domains, uncritically accepted forms of culture (the initiation of men and women into patriarchy) traumatize the love of equals, and thus disfigure and distort our personal and political lives.

"According to legend, when the world was young, the goddess Issaura appeared among men. Those who treated her with kindness received the gift of the gods--the ability to transform into an animal form. This was a great honor but one that separated this race from other humans. Before Issaura departed the mortal realm, she promised to return if her people were ever at the point of destruction. "Now a threat is rising from a land across the mists of the ocean, a threat that will push this race to the brink of extinction. Responding to the call to war, seventeen-year-old Lluava heads off to find her destiny, one that will carve her name in history." The Kingdom of Elysia consists of two races: the dominant race of humans and the native race of Theriomorphs who can shift into animal form. Although law dictates equal treatment, they neither like nor trust each other. Now brutal and ruthless Raiders are approaching; there is only one chance to defeat them. An army must be raised and trained. An army where each human will be paired with a Theriomorph partner. An army that must fight as one to defeat their common enemy.Women are not warriors. However, Lluava is not like other women - human or Theriomorph. Her animal form is a magnificent beast whose power and fury she must learn to control. Although Lluava endures intense physical training and strives to overcome the doubts of the male recruits, she faces an unexpected adversary in the commanding general who seeks to break both her spirit and her body.At the paring ceremony, Lluava is humbled when presented with a unique and ancient weapon. Yet she becomes distraught and angry when her human partner is revealed. If they fail to trust each other, the consequences will be devastating. Death and destruction are on the horizon and time is running out.The Incarn Saga is a young adult fantasy series inspired by ancient myths, filled with fast-paced action and adventure, and enriched by an understanding of animal behavior that defines the shape-shifting Theriomorphs.