How is it even possible?

How is it possible for people to live in such completely different realities? For example, I know for a fact that most domestic violence is perpetrated by men against women. Dov Charney, on the other hand, seems to think otherwise:

“Women initiate most domestic violence, yet out of a thousand cases of domestic violence, maybe one is involving a man. And this has made a victim of culture out of women.”

I'm not honestly sure what he's actually saying when you try to parse the grammar, but it's hard to imagine a way to get it back to a sentiment that reflects reality in any way. Renee has the rundown on statistics and I suggest you read her post on this generally. [H/t Feministe]

Dov Charney is the owner of American Apparel. He is also, for some reason, highly invested in denying women ownership of their reality. Women are battered by men in the vast majority of cases, and the ability to speak of, name, and share that pain is important both to recovery and to prevention. Charney, apparently, is so threatened by any notion that his gender might bear some responsibility for this--and it is sad that he can't separate himself from a generalized notion of maleness--that he must insist it's actually men who are victimized by a culture of victimhood. If he were less focused on gender wars he might be able to notice that things that some men do are not definitive of all men; if he liked women better he could, perhaps, hear their words as truth and not as threats and scolds.


It boggles my mind. Women try to translate their pain into something constructive and Charney's response is, "but you're hurting our feelings!"