After a few days of media attention, the accusations of domestic violence against New York Gov. David Paterson's aide dropped off the radar. Aide David Johnson says he'll be vindicated; so far, he hasn't even been charged. Now that it's clear that Gov. Paterson won't immediately resign as a result of the accusations that he encouraged his aide and friend's accuser not to pursue the matter, few people are still interested. But there's at least one subset of men and women who are still tuned in.

David Johnson's live-in partner at the time, Sherr-una Booker, told the Bronx family court that Johnson choked her, pushed her into a piece of furniture and took her phone so that she couldn't call the police. Choking is a common form of domestic abuse—it's what Chris Brown is said to have done to Rihanna, and Charlie Sheen is accused of doing to his wife—and it's also considered a warning sign of more serious violence. But under New York law, choking is barely considered a misdemeanor (which would carry a maximum sentence of one year in jail), because it leaves little or no sign of serious injury. The officers who responded to Booker's eventual call apparently thought the incident she described didn't even reach that level; they wrote a report for the violation "harassment," which could—but rarely does—result in a 15-day sentence. Advocates are working to change this (choking in a domestic context has been specifically designated as a felony in several states)—but that 15-day maximum penalty (with a $250 fine) doesn't stand out as much of a deterrent, or as much of an incentive for a victim of violence to involve the legal system in the first place.

When I prosecuted domestic violence cases in Manhattan, I met many victims, both of serious assaults and of those the law regards as trivial, who were convinced that the courts couldn't help. The Bronx District Attorney's Office may be investigating or awaiting the results of Special Counsel Judith Kaye's investigation into Paterson's conduct. There may be excellent, but unrevealed, reasons not to pursue the accusations against Johnson (although what's often referred to as Booker's "failure to press charges" should not be one of them, as New York state has a policy of pursuing domestic violence cases without regard to the wishes of the accuser). But to a victim of domestic violence, the fact that David Johnson seems unscathed is one more reason not to pick up the phone.

Tags: david johnson, david paterson, domestic violence, Sherr-una Booker

Last year when data first emerged about how men were experiencing job losses at far greater rates than women, some feminists wondered if it might mean more gender fluidity for men, who might be more willing to be stay-at-home fathers. In a piece about how the recession affects family relationships published in Slate last February, Emily Bazelon didn't think that men would be so quick to relinquish their gender roles, quoting a study that showed that unemployed men "spend more time sleeping, watching TV, and looking for a job," rather than helping out around the house or with child care. In today's New York Observer, Irina Aleksander offers a peek into a New Jersey-based group for men who lost high-paying jobs in finance and accounting, founded by a life coach named Paul Anovick, called Men in Transition. Her article confirms Emily's earlier suspicions.

These men still define themselves through work, or lackthereof. One group member, Steve, 44, a former director of business development at a marketing firm, says he was reluctant to join the group. "I didn’t want to come at first. ... I guess it’s a guy thing. I originally called it ‘miserable men,’ because I thought that’s what Men in Transition was: a bunch of guys who were talking about how miserable they were. I didn’t want to be with a bunch of losers. Nothing personal." To be unemployed and talking about your feelings means you're a loser, Steve is saying. Nothing personal! Aleksander is sympathetic to these men—it's impossible not to be; they're going through a rough time. But if they were able to define for themselves what being a man means, they might not need a life coach to tell them about how to properly "brand" themselves.

Tags: family, men in transition, new york observer, recession

—Iran has the highest rates of rhinoplasties in the world. In China, surgical leg lengthening becomes increasingly popular. Extreme beautification goes global. [The New York Times]

—More schoolchildren are committing suicide or require reconstructive surgery, as U.S. bullying culture expands and intensifies. Both in the classroom and on the Internet, children's cruelty is becoming more violent and sexualized. [NY Daily News]

—Exercising for 60 minutes a day won't actually prevent middle-age weight gain. [Harvard Science, The Daily Beast]

—The real life morality play of Tiger Woods gets some new twists: $30,000-per-hand gambling stints with Michael Jordan, the cheap seduction of his mistresses, and an inner circle of enablers. [Opinionator Blog, Vanity Fair]

—A transgender woman is found dead and naked in her destroyed Queens apartment. [NY Daily News]

Tags: Bullying, china, cosmetic surgery, cyber-bullying, exercise, iran, Michael Jordan, tiger woods, transgender, weight gain, what we're talking about