An Experimental Application of the Theory of Radical Feminism in Explaining Students’ Attitudes towards Wife Beating

During the last twenty years, interpersonal violence has become a major concern. The transition from a traditional society to a modern society means changing the patterns of behavior and discourse that govern society. In a sense, entering a modern society means changing behaviors. One of these patterns of behavior is violence against women in the public and private spheres of society. Violence against women has been part of human history around the world and, unfortunately, is still regarded as an epidemic problem. Violence against women is a global problem. Violence affects the lives of millions of women across all social, economic, and educational classes around the world, as well as removing all cultural and religious barriers and preventing women's rights to fully participate in society. According to the World Health Organization, violence is defined as the use of physical force and power, a threat or action against another person or groups of people (society) that leads to bruising, death, psychological problems, anomalies, and deprivation of rights. This research emphasized the theory of radical feminism and its main focus was on unequal structures in the society in the private and public spheres. And from this point of view, it was intended to examine and test the attitude towards wife-beating among male students. 

This research was a survey study. The research plan for this survey was cross-sectional. That is, the information was collected from the sample at a specific time. The statistical population of this study consisted of all male students of the Mazandaran University campus. To determine the sample size, the appropriate stratified random sampling method has been used and 428 students were selected by stratified sampling. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data according to the level of measurement of the studied variables. Besides, all stages of data processing were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. To validate the research questionnaire, the content validation method was used. To measure the validity of the research instrument, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was also used. 

Men's violence against women is not a new phenomenon and has a long history. But considering it as a social issue is a new problem. Violence against women has always been a legitimate form of male domination in human history. That is, a kind of social control that arises directly from the patriarchal construction of societies. The social and psychological consequences of violence against women are enormous. The results of many studies have shown that gender-based violence is the cause of multiple physical, mental, and psychological disorders that affect women. In the analysis of violence against women, attitude is an important element that can guide behavior, so awareness of attitude helps us to predict people’s behavior. Researchers believe that attitudes and beliefs that strengthen men’s masculinity and power can be a reason for men to use violence against women. Radical feminists argue that the roots of violence against women at the macro and micro levels are the unequal structure of society, and argue that patriarchy is a major factor in men’s domination and oppression of women. The independent variables of this research included husbands’ patriarchal beliefs, holding husbands responsible for their violence, blaming the wife for violence against her, accepting the sex-role stereotypes, and marriage role expectations. To test the research hypotheses, the variable ‘attitude of male students of Mazandaran University towards women’ was examined as a dependent variable. The findings of this study indicated that men’s violence was considered as a mechanism, in which men, both as a group and as a single individual were able to exercise control over women in the structure of the society and family, and thus their superiority. The culture and social structure of patriarchal society perpetuated men's abuse with women, and patriarchy was a direct cause of feminism. The theoretical achievement of this research was related to the application of the theory of radical feminism in the study of male students’ attitudes towards women. Also, the research showed that among the five variables studied, the variable ‘accepting the sex-role stereotypes’ was more important than the others. It can be used to explain the attitude of male students of Mazandaran University towards women.