The Awful and Impressive Example: Wife Beaters and the Whipping Post in American Newspapers, 1904–1906
The Awful and Impressive Example: Wife Beaters and the Whipping Post in American Newspapers, 1904–1906
Ed Morales (2025 Grady College master’s graduate) “The Awful and Impressive Example: Wife Beaters and the Whipping Post in American Newspapers, 1904–1906,” American Journalism, June 3.
Abstract: The study examines how white, mainstream newspapers covered the use of a whipping post to punish wife beaters in the early twentieth century. A discipline favored by President Theodore Roosevelt, the whipping post was a hot topic of discussion in the white press about ways to stem domestic violence. Employing a thematic analysis of articles from 204 newspapers in thirty-six states and the District of Columbia, this study identified four themes—gender dynamics and patriarchy, legal reform and moral justifications, punishing men and public opinion, and media influence—in newspapers during a critical time in women’s struggle for equal rights. Journalists were universal in their disgust for wife beaters, but this essay contends the media was more concerned about the sanctity of marriage than the welfare of women, who in many instances were not believed.
Related Research
-
Weaponizing Woke: Black and White Voter Responses, Intentions, and Perceived Support to a Politician’s Commentary on XDenetra Walker and Joshua Cloudy. “Weaponizing Woke: Black and White Voter Responses, Intentions, and Perceived Support to a Politician’s Commentary on X.” Presentation for 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association. Presented […]
-
New ‘democracy’ reporters on the beat: A case study of journalism during democratic backslidingAndrea Lorenz (Kent State) and Karin Assmann (Lorenz presenting), “New ‘democracy’ reporters on the beat: A case study of journalism during democratic backsliding,” paper to be presented at the International Association […]