Domestic violence and abuse in Mother Goose nursery rhymes

Domestic Violence

Not all nursery rhymes, folktales, and fables depict 'sweet' stories. The horrific images of women held in captivity in pumpkin shells and starving dogs demonstrate examples of atrocities portrayed in the early stories. Over the years, Mary Goose stories have undergone 'sanitization'. Earlier versions of the stories portrayed a myriad of atrocities. Earlier versions of the rhymes depict gruesomeness of the violence. Domestic violence occurs as a core theme in the old Mary Goose nursery. Wives and daughters suffered the brunt of abuse that included beatings and murder. Early Victorians believed that the rhymes would encourage their daughters to grow and become dutiful and obedient wives.

Nature of domestic violence

The stories present a multifaceted and complex approach to the issue of domestic violence. For example, the story of an old woman who lived in a shoe presents depicts a bizarre meaning of the text that talks about child abuse (Gustafson, 2014). In the story, the woman mistreats the children by giving them broth without bread. Further, she whips them soundly, and she goes ahead to purchase coffins for the children. Child abuse undermines the rights of children in a myriad number of ways. The society has endeavored to resist child abuse practices that affect family institutions. As depicted in the story, the practices inflicted physical and mental torture on children.

The Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Easter rhyme portrays a gruesome hidden meaning as it revolves around the aspects of infidelity, relationships, and murder (Gustafson, 2014). In the story, Peter's wife occurs as a hooker. As Peter fails to restrain his wife from having sex with multiple male partners, he decides to kill her. After killing the wife, Peter decides to hide her body in a large pumpkin. The moral story behind the story focuses on educating women of the essence of demonstrating faithfulness to their husbands. Failure in doing so results in fatal consequences such as death. Despite respect held to the marriage institution, hefty penalties of death occur as an act of gender violence against women.

Misconceptions about Gender Violence

A section of society thinks that gender violence occurs as an unusual activity. However, individuals fail to talk into account emotional and verbal abuse. Since the mid-1990s, the incidents of domestic violence decreased significantly. Another misconception depicts that both parties in a domestic violence case carry some responsibility. Anti-feminist groups portray gender violence as a mutual fight between male and female partners (White, Koss, & Kazdin, 2011). Further, the misconception holds on the notion that women lie about abuse to benefit in a certain way, for example, revenge, child custody, and immigration status.

Conclusion

Gender violence against women and children has eroded human dignity in the society. Historically, gender violence remains a burning issue in societies today. It is crucial to acknowledge the existence of the issue in the society and later utilize it in solving the eminent challenges accustomed to it. The misconceptions endeavor to justify some of the committed atrocities, an aspect the society requires to resist.