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Thursday, October 11, 1948
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 83 No. 35
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Domestic violence week
to combat spouse abuse
By Lisa Nutting
D&ify Nebnuian E&iJT Ceporter
Under my thumb there's a
squirming dogwho's just had
her dayUnder my thumb there 's
a girlwho's just changed her
way It's down to me, whoreTlie
way she talks when she's spoken
todown to mea change has
comeshe's under my thumb...
These words, from "Under My
Thumb" by the Rolling Stones
help to create the impression
that violence against women b
acceptable and even desirable,
according to a flier put out by
Women Against Violence Against
Women.
In the April '84 issue of SELF
magazine, a makeup company
advertisement used a closeup
photo of a grimacing woman with
a clenched male fist near her
cheek.
Margie Rine, community edu
cator and counselor at the
RapeSpouse Abuse Crisis Cen
ter in Lincoln, said she thinks the
way women are used in the media
may effect the possibility of spouse
abuse. The crisis center is a pro
gram of family services.
"Cp3U22 alrass is subtly,
or sometimes net so subtly, rein
forced in our society," she said.
The week of Oct. 8 to 14 is
National Domestic Violence Week
and is a serious attempt to bring
spouse abuse to national atten
tion. "It's not just the case of a fey
guys out there beating up their
-wives it goes much deeper,"
Rine said.
National statistics show physi-
. cal abuse occurs at some point in
75 percent of all marriages. More
than one million women each
year seek medical help for injur
ies caused by battering. And 30
Ch
illy Midwest climate kee
By Jchn Koopmsn
Special to the Daiiy Netrxskan
The old house sits nestled amid
the clustered neighborhood of
Lincoln's near south. Nondescript
on the outside, the house is nicely
furnished with antique furniture,"
tasteful paintings and small
statues.
The couple who live in the house
are just as nondescript in a
way. They have been together for
seven years. Their relationship is
based on love and respect. They
try not to be too confining, they
say, yet they want to spend the
rest of their lives together. -
And yet, they are different.
Society labels them "deviant."
Their names are Larry Weiss and
Rusty Johnson (not their real
names).
The lives of Weiss and
Johnson aren't necessarily typi
cal of homosexual men in Lin
coln. But neither are the lives of
any of the city's gsy men. Kathy
Brzezinski-Stein, a psychologist
at UNL, likens the homosexual
existence to a "multi-layered
onion." Backgrounds, interests,
likes and dislikes axe as varied ts
the number of men who comprise
Lincoln's gay community. No two
stories are the same.
But nearly all gay men have
percent of all victims are killed by
their spouse or boyfriend.
A statement from Parents'
Magazine says: "The family i3 the
most violent group in society,
with the exception of the police
and the military. You are more
likely to get killed, injured or
physically attacked in your home
by someone you are related to
than in any other social context.
In fact, if violence were a com
municable disease, like the swine
flu, the government would con
sider it an epidemic."
On the local level, more women
seek help every year. In 1933, the
Crisis Telephone Line, also a pro
gram of Family Services, received
2,069 calls. The Crisis Center
added 260 new clients for face-to-face
counseling. So far this
year the Crisis Line has received
2,354 calls, and the Crisis Center
has 264 new clients for counseling.
Rine says the increase may be
because of a thrust in community
education about spouse abuse,
and the visibility of programs
which can help.
"It's a serious problem,"
Rine said. "Women are realizing
they don't have to live that way
and there's somewhere they
can get help."
One myth about spouse abuse
is that most women could leave if
they wanted to. In many cases
the woman cannot leave the mar
riage because she is financially
and emotionally dependent on
her husband, Rine said. Many
women love their mates and dont
want to leave them but they do
want the beatings to stop. Others
fear what their husband will do if
she decides to leave. And some
have a low self-concept, often
with nowhere to go and no sup
port system.
Continued on P&ga 6
some of the same problems. Prob
lems such as discrimination, pos
sible loss of jobs and housing, the
threat of physical violence and
unstable relationships with fam
ily and friends.
The Lincoln subculture of male
homosexuals encounters the
same problems as those in other
cities. Yet, each gay community is
unique. Each has its own sense of
pride, or lack of it. Each knows
the limitations imposed on it by
the majority straight community.
Each has its various support
organizations and civic leaders.
And so does Lincoln's.
As a relatively small city in the
Midwest, Lincoln has its own
"climate for homosexuals." Scott
StebelmarS former co-chair of the
Lincoln Coalition for Gay and
Lesbian Civil Rights, said homo
phobia is a common problem
throughout the region. He defined
homophobia as a fear of homo
sexuals and homosexuality.
"Lincoln hZ3 a more sup
portive atmosphere than Omaha
or say Ogailala or the rest of the
state," he said.
Gay men in Lincoln offer a var
iety of views concerning life as a
homosexual in the Midwest. Weiss
and Johnson for example.
Weiss comes from Bellevue;
Johnson from Lincoln. Two Ne-
3h M A.. A) h t r
Mark DavlaDally Ncbrackan
The social pressures to drink ere always present, but some still prefer to keep it clean.
Reseacher says students drink to
avoid 'nerd,' wet blanket image
By Gali Y. Ilney
Daily Nebraska Senior Reporter
Editor's note: This is tLe Hnsl
article of a four-part series
examfsdng vsriciss testes on
alcoholism and its effects, a
stadents. This series is in
cenj auction with N&tkautl Col
legiate Awareness Week,,
through Friday.
Dimmed lights haze from the
Alcohol
Awareness
Week
8-foot ceiling. The old wooden
braska natives, yet their lives as
homosexuals have differed greatly.
Johnson has lived in Lincoln
since he was 10. He says he knew
he was a homosexual, or at least
not heterosexual, since he was 5.
"When I was 5, we used to play
'Hide and Seek.' Sometimes I did
it with a boy and sometimes with
a girl" he said.
Jolmsnn fesgsn to fully
realize his attraction for men
when he was about 10, although
he had relations mostly with
women while in high schooL He
had so many sexual relations,
with boys and girls, that he lost
count. Raised a "strict Lutheran,"
he outwardly appeared to be
heterosexual. He didn't consider
his attraction for men normal so
he was forced to lead a "double
"Society thought itwas wrong,"
he said. "I didnt."
Johnson said manycf the men
and boys with whom he had sex
have since led heterosexual Lives.
They are the most homophobic,
he said, because they have turned
their guilt into hatred.
Johnson said he doesn't talk
much to his family anymore, all
having long since moved away.
His mother knew he was gay
when he was 13 when she caught
him having sex with an older
floor vibrates beneath students
bopping to the music of Prin
ce's "Let's Go Crazy," blaring at
, multidecibels.
; Enter Allie McShane, an 18-year-old
freshman, who just
wants to mix in. Appearing at
' the party with her newly found
friends, she is immediately led
to a keg of chilled, cheap beer.
Uncomfortable, shy Allie
(wants desperately to be part
of the crowd. Grasping a filled
cup of beer at the urging of
friends, she starts on the path
of what many college students
consider "social drinking."
The desire to be part of the
group causes many college
students to drink, said UNL
ps gays
man, his reading tutor.
We never discussed it,"
he said. But when his father
learned of it, he swore at him.
Today, as he has done all his
life, Johnson considers himself a
bisexual His partner, Weiss, dis
putes his claim.
"You mean to tell me that you
could live with a woman?" he
asked. ,
"Yes. Well, it would depend on
the person," Johnson replied. "I
mean, if there were a room full of
men and women, I wouldn't
necessarily look at the men. I
would look at the women, if they
were good looking."
Weiss, on the other hand, sees
himself as strictly homosexual.
Ha also differs from Johnson in
the manner in which he realized
his homosexuality.
The stepson of an Air Force
staff sergeant, Weiss moved to
Bellevue when he was 10. He
went to high school and college
there before moving to Lincoln
seven years ago.
"When I was growing up, I
didn't have any concept of sexu
ality," he said. "It was never tailed
about at home. I didnt know
what a 'queer' or homosexual
was."
Larry said he was always
psychology professor Clay
Rivers.
When freshmen begin college,
they are thrust into a new
environment away from all of
the things that have governed
their lives. Students find them
selves in a new situation where
they tend to do things they
normally would not do, Rivers
said.
Alcohol can give the drinker
euphoric feelings and unusual
sensations, he said, and makes
a lot of shy people less shy.
Drinking allows students to
handle many social situations
they could not handle other
wise, he said.
Continued on Page 6
in closet
attracted to other boys, but he
didnt realize the significance of it
until he was in high schooL His
friends were different. They were
dating girls. That uncertainty
made him feel totally different
and isolated."
Larry had his first homosexual
experience in college. He went
shopping with a friend who then
made a pass at him. He let it
happen and later felt tremend
ous guilt. He justified that act
because he hadnt initiated it or
reciprocated in any way. He re
pressed his feelings and pretended
it never happened. Until the next
time.
Two years passed before Weiss
had another experience. This time
he did reciprocate. And again he
felt the guilt and again he
repressed his feelings. He was in
the middle of his college years,
yet he didnt date and he was hav
ing no sexual relations of any
sort.
He repressed his feelings until
just before he graduated. He was
lonely, unhappy and bitter
because he felt others were tell
ing him how to live his life.
"I realized that the only way I
could become a happy, whole
person was to become gay," he
said. And so he did.
He began to frequent Omaha's
Continued a Fe3 14
