Mark Twain said it very well, “It ain’t ignorance that’s
dangerous; it’s people knowing things that just aren’t so.” Over the years I have heard some feminist
extremists (attention feminists: if the shoe fits, wear it) explain the “rule
of thumb” to be old English common law that a man could beat his wife as long
as he didn’t use a stick thicker than is thumb.
When I did my second year of law school in London, I did what I could to
get to the bottom of that story. After
consulting with several medieval scholars, I am now prepared to announce that
it is particularly nefarious urban legend. Parliament never authorized such a
bill nor did the church ever sanction such action. However, that’s a story that
some people want to believe to be true.
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