Lorena Bobbitt's violent act became a joke, missing chance to focus on the cause, she says
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
More than a quarter of a century ago, Lorena Bobbitt's name became synonymous with a gruesome act that turned into an uncomfortable joke.
She says now that the nation missed an opportunity at the time to look at what she calls a "social epidemic," the scourge of domestic violence.
Bobbitt, who was an immigrant from Venezuela, cut off her husband’s penis with a 12-inch knife in 1993 and tossed it into a field in Virginia where they lived.
Bobbitt, who now goes by her maiden name Gallo, spoke to "Today" in an exclusive television interview airing Friday ahead of the premiere of a four-part documentary series executive produced by Jordan Peele, which reframes her story in light of the #MeToo movement 25 years later.
She was charged with “malicious wounding” and put on trial. She claimed that her then-husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, spent years abusing her physically, emotionally and sexually before she attacked him.
He denied the allegations of abuse. The jury found her not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
Bobbitt's story led to late-night TV jokes and tabloid fodder.
She told "Today" the public focused on the act she committed rather than the abuse she allegedly suffered.
"People actually miss the opportunity, not only to talk about the serious issue but about how a victim is already a victim of abuse or horrendous abuse," Bobbitt said Friday. "And then I go to be victimized again by the media and, us, society. So it was very difficult."
Now, 26 years later, she has a longtime partner and a 13-year-old daughter.
She said that through therapy and the help of her partner, she has been able to deal with her past notoriety.
Bobbitt said she told her daughter about what happened to her, in part, to prepare her for the documentary, "Lorena," when it screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
"She said, 'Mom, I didn't realize how strong you are,'" Bobbitt told "Today."
Bobbitt founded the Lorena Gallo Foundation in 2008 as way to help and advocate for survivors of domestic violence. She told "Today" that working in women's shelters helped her heal and adjust back to a normal life after her trial.
"The more I wanted to talk, the more I felt that I wanted to connect with women, that I felt that I wasn't alone," Bobbitt said.
She said she was happy that the #MeToo movement has elevated the voices of women and destigmatized the trauma of survivors. She also feels excited about a new wave of women in Congress who may be able to help close gaps in domestic violence laws to better protect women suffering abuse.
"We have come a long way," she said. "But there is a lot, much more, to be done."
NBC News reached out to her former husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, who declined to comment.
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Although the facts aren't the same, the notoriety is similar to that of a famous murder case in the city in which I grew up when a woman named Evelyn Dick was on trial for murdering her husband, having cut off his head, his arms and his legs from his torso. I was only 9 years old and I will never forget the schoolyard song we used to sing, which is reported here:
Mrs. Bobbitt did not miss her husband's dick.
Okay, waaaaiiit a minute.
I remember this well. Yes, the jokes ran wild. I even had a "Bobbit stopper" which was an 8" aluminum tube when you open the box.
She also brought on some scorn herself. I watched as this unfolded and she was found not guilty by reason...for a reason.
I'm also sure hubby's not feeling the joke either...by now his 15 minutes is long deflated along with his porn money and his little buddy.
They both played the media and the general public. Her by playing the victim for her over the top revenge for his childish self centered treatment of a marriage.
She could have just left...but that was not enough...she was pissed off.
Now, two idiots aren't dead, but they don't have their life anymore.
i wonder if she was still p;issed
on, all the way to that field.
i pretty much remember both cashing in on this, but that was many brain cells ago, and after reading this piece, i feel i should refrain from referencing them, as i still do on occasion, but possibly, not okcasion.
i don't know, should i unlock the silver drawer at night again...she says she just wants ta spoon, but what's with the spork, not that i give a Fork, unless,
it cuts like a knife.
I see what you did there...very clever!
Have to agree with that. Time has rewritten some of this.
Somebody is looking for another 15 minutes in the spotlight. I wonder if she EVER stopped to think about WHY people made jokes about what she did. I'm pretty sure she hasn't.
20/20 had a two hour show about the 25th anniversary of this groundbreaking event a few weeks ago. Both these two people had or have some "issues", but John seems much more of a head case. Neither of them was guiltless in the mutual psychological abuse that led to the cutting off of the natural expressions of affection.
I think the real story is they were actually able to reattach the thing and he ended up doing porn. Let's hear it for modern medicine, amiright? High five!
P.S.: I didn't make that meme. I found it with the "Tacos!!" balloons already there. God bless the internet.
Haha.
Two exclamation points though.
No, it'a AMAZING that some one found it.
Without that, John's no porn star...
I forgot he was a porn star. What I remembered that she said that it was her "culture " to cut off his best bud, when you find out that your hubby is cheating. Am I wrong?
He is brave.
Better go to sleep in titanium pajamas.
That could qualify as the understatement of the year. LOL
She and Monica Lewinsky just need to go away.
Gotta agree with ya Pat. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.. it's not about me........ but it is.
About time for the other ones to start surfacing, Paula?