As the news of golf superstar Tiger Woods alleged multiple affairs spills all over the media a fascinatingand disturbingsubplot to the story has become a revealing litmus test of societal attitudes toward gender and domestic violence.Persistent rumors allege that the November 27 car accident in which Woods hit a fire hydrant and then a tree while backing out of his driveway around 2:30 a.m. was linked to an assault on the golfer by his wife Elin Nordegrenand that the cuts and bruises on Woods face were the result of the assault not the accident. These claims have been strongly denied by the police and by others the official version is that Nordegren rushed to her husbands aid after the accident and smashed the car window with a golf club to free him. Nonetheless further tales of marital fighting will no doubt be fueled by Woods confession on December 2 to unspecified "transgressions" against his family and by new allegations of a recorded voice-mail message in which he supposedly tells his mistress his wife has found her number on his phone.Whether or not the assault actually took place the truly remarkable thing is that some voices in the feminist corner of the media have rushed either to defend it or to excuse it.   ... >>