The evidence for this alleged symmetry comes from surveys that used Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS), a checklist of self-reported incidents perpetrated or experienced, and U.S. homicide data. This article argues against the claim of gender symmetry by reviewing other contradictory survey evidence, by showing that the CTS provides an account of marital violence that is neither reliable nor valid, and by demonstrating that the gender symmetry of spousal homicide victimization does not reflect sexually symmetrical motivation or action and is in any case peculiar to the United States. The article reasons that the alleged similarity of women and men in their use of violence in intimate relationships is in marked contrast to men's virtual monopoly on the use of violence in other social contexts. The authors challenge the proponents of the gender-symmetry thesis to develop coherent theoretical models that would account for a sexual monomorphism of violence in one social context and not in others. A final thesis of this paper is that resolution of controversies about the "facts" of family violence requires critical examination of theories, methods, and data, with attention to the development of coherent conceptual frameworks, valid and useful forms of measurement, and appropriate inferential procedures. 128 references