John and Lorena Bobbitt: Difference between revisions

'''John Wayne Bobbitt''' (born 1967) and '''Lorena Bobbitt''' ([[née]] '''Gallo'''; born 15 May 1969)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/moment-john-bobbitt-realized-wife-cut-off-penis/story?id=59962578|title=The moment John Bobbitt realized his wife had cut off his penis: 'It was a nightmare'|website=ABC News}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2019-02-14 |title=Lorena Bobbitt and John Bobbitt: The True Story ofBehind JohnThe andCase LorenaThat BobbittPlayed Out Like a Soap Opera |url=https://www.insideedition.com/lorena-bobbitt-and-john-bobbitt-true-story-behind-case-played-out-soap-opera-50706 |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=Inside Edition |language=en-US}}</ref> were an American former couple, married on June 18, 1989,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Tousignant |first1=Marylou |last2=Miller |first2=Bill |date=1994-01-13 |title=LORENA BOBBITT DETAILS DEMISE OF MARRIAGE |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/01/13/lorena-bobbitt-details-demise-of-marriage/1b1487f0-769f-4d13-a85e-4670b722f1b0/ |access-date=2023-01-26 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> whose relationship received international press coverage in 1993 when Lorena [[Penis removal|severed John's penis]] with a knife while he was asleep in bed; the penis was successfully surgically reattached.

Lorena, an Ecuadorian immigrant, claimed that her husband John, a bar bouncer and former [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Odum |first=Maria E. |date=1994-01-07 |title=MARINE RECORDS ON ABUSE MAY FIGURE IN BOBBITT TRIAL |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/01/07/marine-records-on-abuse-may-figure-in-bobbitt-trial/c2a834e8-6a9e-4223-b8d9-56cc924d293f/ |access-date=2023-01-26 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> had [[Marital rape|raped]] and [[domestic abuse|abused]] her for years. John was charged with rape later that year but was [[acquittal|acquitted]] and subsequently starred in two [[pornographic films]]. The next year, Lorena was acquitted of [[assault]] by [[Insanity defense|reason of insanity]] and went on to start a foundation for domestic abuse victims and their children.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last1=Effron |first1=Lauren |last2=Dooley |first2=Sean |title=John Bobbitt speaks out 25 years after wife infamously cut off his penis: 'I want people to understand… the whole story' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/john-bobbitt-speaks-25-years-wife-infamously-cut/story?id=60023049 |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> The couple [[divorced]] in 1995.

Lorena Bobbitt [[Penis removal|severed]] her husband John's [[Human penis|penis]] on June 23, 1993 at their home in [[Manassas, Virginia]]. Lorena stated in a court hearing that, after coming home that evening, her husband had [[Marital rape|raped]] her. After he then went to sleep, she got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a drink of water. She then grabbed an eight-inch [[Ginsu]] [[carving knife]] on the kitchen counter, returned to their bedroom, pulled back the bed sheets, and cut off his penis.<ref name="crimelibrary2"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-01-12-1994012071-story.html|title=Was Lorena Bobbitt's act 'an irresistible impulse?'|last=Simon|first=Roger|work=Baltimore Sun|date=January 12, 1994 |access-date=2023-02-11}}</ref>

After this, Lorena left the apartment with the severed appendage and drove away in her car. After a length of time driving and struggling to steer with one hand due to holding the penis, she threw the penis out a window into a roadside field on Maplewood Drive.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chozick |first=Amy |date=2019-01-30 |title=You Know the Lorena Bobbitt Story. But Not All of It. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/arts/television/lorena-bobbitt-documentary-jordan-peele.html |access-date=2023-11-25 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She eventually stopped and called [[9-1-1]], telling them what she had done and where the penis could be found. John's penis was found after an exhaustive search, and after being washed with [[antiseptic]] and packed in [[Salinity|saline ice]], it was reattached in the hospital where he was treated. The operation took nine and a half hours.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/10/07/a-stitch-in-time/4bb12535-5a24-45a5-a1ac-674ef4802f26|title=A Stitch in Time:'My Wife Cut Me' John Bobbitt Said. For Two Doctors, It Was a Night To Remember.|first=Joel|last=Achenbach|access-date=December 14, 2009|date=October 7, 1993}}</ref> John went on to star in two pornographic films in the 1990s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/06/lorena-bobbitt-john-wayne-bobbitt-25-years|title=The Lorena Bobbitt Case at 25: Why She's Moved on and John Wayne Hasn't|last=Anolik|first=Lili|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|publisher=[[Conde Nast]]|location=New York City| date=June 28, 2018|access-date=December 22, 2018}}</ref> and stated in 2018 that his penis is "back to normal".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://toofab.com/2018/12/20/john-wayne-bobbitt-says-his-penis-has-been-through-the-wringer-in-new-abc-special/|title=John Wayne Bobbitt Says His Penis Has 'Been Through the Wringer' In New ABC Special|website=toofab.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-22}}</ref> John also went on to accumulate a record of serious abuse allegations and some criminal convictions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Maligned Women {{!}} On the Media|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-maligned-women|access-date=2021-08-24|website=WNYC Studios|language=en}}</ref>

Shortly after the incident, episodes of "Bobbittmania", or [[copycat crimes]], were reported, although the incidents were generally self-inflicted wounds or accidents.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950110/ai_n9629503|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071021012519/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950110/ai_n9629503|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 21, 2007|title=Bobbittmania takes a grip on psyche of Latin lover|author=Gumbel, Andrew|access-date=October 14, 2007}}</ref> The names of John and Lorena Bobbitt eventually became synonymous with penis removal. The terms "Bobbittized punishment" and "Bobbitt Procedure" gained social recognition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icfmt.org/vol2no3/critical.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070314204014/http://www.icfmt.org/vol2no3/critical.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 14, 2007 |title=A Critical Review of Post-phase Period of Lorena Bobbitt's Indictment |author1=Husain, M. |author2=Rizvi, S.J. |author3=Usmani, J.A. |access-date=October 14, 2007 }}</ref> ''Bobbitt'' appears as a transitive verb in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', defined as "to cut off the penis of (a man, esp. a husband or lover), typically as an act of revenge for perceived sexual grievances".<ref>[https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=Bobbitt]</ref>

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