And it's what makes her potentially dangerous too. If someone is taking what LaViolette stated as evidence of an abusive relationship instead of putting into perspective abusive behaviors that
could be part of an abusive relationship - whole swathes of people are suddenly victimized (trying to figure out why they never felt victimized) while actual people living in abuse aren't seeing the pattern that emerges in nearly every one. A pattern that often exists even if the victim is never stricken nor openly called a single name - the most covert of psychological abuse that can be so difficult for so many to identify as abuse. The flip side: if Jodi's extreme actions are seen as acceptable or warranted, despite them being characteristic of abuse in and of themselves, it helps along a perception that female perpetrators are justified in those behaviors.
And I'm not even gonna get started on abuse victims as helpless, wholesome storybook creations; the validity of anger management as a therapeutic treatment when an abuser is disordered; the success, or lack of, court-mandated batterer intervention programs she advocates and conducts; her enlightened essay entitled 'Battered Husbands And Other Myths'; and the outmoded philosophy that anger is what causes domestic violence. Nope, not even going to go there.
(It's good to have you here, NIN, and thank you for your insight. You should post more often! I'll say please in advance to avoid accusations. :biggrin