Projecting Gender

"A Beaut of a Shiner"
by Jane Slaughter

A woman ran into a street sign and got a black eye. Naturally most people who see her think her boyfriend or husband hit her.

Seeing

1a. She uses the word, "battered" that help her joking demeanor. It's not exactly a violent word, but rather a word that can be used to describe accidents which sound more innocent.
1b. I think the word "battered" works for me. I don't take her too seriously because of the word and it's a funny word that kinda sounds like the word Batter, that cooking stuff.
1c. Spousal violence also doesn't immediately come to mind because I get reminded of this word describing people in car accidents.
1d. The tone shifts to a more serious one when she mentions, "avoid admitting how nasty it is in Real Life." The word "avoid" itself is a mind prickling word that everyone has painfully dealt with, including the memories of the reasons they avoid something. That word, and admitting are both painful experiences everyone has faced once in their lifetime so I believe the joke naturally ends as soon as the word "avoid" comes into place as well as the other words, "Real Life" that echo in our ears.

2a. I don't think the remainder of the piece supports her claim in the begining with the passage when she says she's sorry to see her shiner go because she admits to how defensive she has gotten to the question of how she got it. She even mentions how her and her man's reputation is gonna be shot. However, she opens up a little bit at the end of the last paragraph willing to share a part of her story to how she got it, so in a little way she is kinda helping her perception.