Telling the untellable : traditional beliefs related to violence against women in a rural Newfoundland community

Keeping, Neachel (2001) Telling the untellable : traditional beliefs related to violence against women in a rural Newfoundland community. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Through an analysis of five women's personal experience narratives, this thesis examines traditional coping strategies used by victims of violence in the Newfoundland outport of Town's Grove. I discovered the primary coping mechanism chosen by these women was silence. Consequently, I explore the belief systems of these women in order to express the importance of silence in their lives. -- The first two chapters introduce five women growing up in rural Newfoundland and provide a definition of rural. With a presentation of their life histories, I discuss how their lifestyles and personal experiences inform their attitudes and worldviews regarding violence against them. -- In the next chapter I draw a comparison between these women's definitions and those taken from feminist literature. A discussion of the importance of naming in defining violence against women concludes the chapter. -- Chapters four and five detail the coping strategies used by the women interviewed and review how they are often not successful strategies for change. Although resources such as the church and the law were available to women in Town's Grove, they preferred their own informal strategies such as minimization, role obstruction and silence. I conclude with a look at the long-term effects of violence on the women I interviewed. I also briefly discuss some postulated reasons why women may stay in abusive relationships.

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