2) The Abuse Bowl
Digging further into the archives of Super Bowl mythology, we come to the claim that the Super Bowl is “the biggest day of the year for violence against women”. Christina Hoff Sommers documented the furor surrounding this myth in her book Who Stole Feminism?. It broke in 1993, just before Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, when a coalition of women’s groups called a news conference to discuss a study claiming to show that violence against women had risen 40 percent following the 1988 Super Bowl. Reporters and women’s groups were quick to jump on the story. The NFL was encouraged to air a commercial encouraging men to stay calm, and Dobinsky Associates sent a mass mailing to women considered to be “at risk”, urging them keep a safe distance from their football-frenzied mates.
Further investigation proved these “day of dread” predictions to be, at best, wildly exaggerated. Super Bowl Sunday occasions no marked increase in domestic abuse reports, and unless you’re a chicken, you probably needn’t worry.
We all understand why this hoax was red meat for feminists, who are naturally inclined to see football as a tribal bloodbath for brutish American men. But personally, I think it should have been obvious from the beginning that it was a myth. Violence aside, what man wants to pick a fight with his wife when there’s an important game to be watched?
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