Legislators Duck 'Wife Beater' Bill
Public ridicule stops lawmakers from sponsoring a measure to punish domestic abusers.
The story, cleaned up
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As soon as the public morals turmoil dies down in the legislature, a bill will be introduced providing that husbands who beat their wives shall be subjected to the same sort of punishment. While the details of the law have not been entirely agreed upon by the people here working in its interest, it is understood that the law in Oregon will be followed closely. The people who are urging this measure are having considerable difficulty in finding a member who will father the measure officially. Nearly every member who has been approached expresses himself as being heartily in favor of the measure, but all fear the ridicule that some way or other attaches to a man who introduces the 'wife beater' bill. The bill affords scope for some rather puerile stock wit, which legislators, imbued with the wrongful impression that they are humorists, never fail to overlook.
“Nearly every member who has been approached expresses himself as being heartily in favor of the measure, but all fear the ridicule.”
This story highlights the historic trivialization of domestic violence in civic discourse, where legislators feared being the butt of jokes more than they cared about addressing abuse—a mindset that has been the focus of decades of legislative and social reform.
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