Charles MacFarland, Ewingsdale
Mandy Nolan’s discussion of male violence (Echo, 14 Nov) reminded me of a question that has troubled me for some time: What is it about women that makes some men so violent?
Do these men go around beating up everybody? Picking fights with their mates? Assaulting random people in the street? No. What is it about women that triggers off these men?
I have two guesses: One is that women lose their looks as they age. Men marry a beautiful girl; by and by her beauty disappears. It’s not surprising some men feel betrayed.
The other is what happens when babies come. The man married a woman and they were the focus of each other’s lives, but now the woman’s focus changes. The babies are first.
The babies need the mother; without a mother’s concern, human babies might not survive. The man cares for the babies too, but he has lost his first place. On top of this, when the babies come, the money goes, as it says in that famous poem: The young man looks on his first baby born / He has spent all his money for life. Some men resent this a lot.
Some people will imagine I’m blaming women. I’m not. Some people will imagine I’m defending men. I’m not.
Other explanations? I’d love to hear them. It’s more helpful to try to understand what’s happening than to make strident attacks.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
