Dana Nguyen knows she has a problem.
In 2025, the 27-year-old California resident spent more than $4,000 on Labubu dolls. These dolls are small, furry, “cute,” monster-themed bag charms with pointed ears and wide, toothy smiles (Kwai, 2025). Labubus were manufactured by the Chinese company: Pop Mart. The trendy toys are highly collectible and sold in blind boxes, meaning buyers don’t know which doll they’ve purchased until they open it.
Valentine’s Day is all about love! While showing love for friends, family, your significant other, and yourself should be a year-round practice, February 14th inspires many to take it one step further. For many, this includes giving a meaningful gift.
In this land of the free, abuse is woven into the foundations of numerous systems we have come to depend on. It is normalized, hidden behind metal walls and closed doors, and reinforced by oligarchic corporations that benefit from continued silence. It is because of this silence that the abuse largely goes unnoticed and unchallenged. Yet when brought to the surface, illuminated and exposed, this abuse is then repackaged by corporations to be a necessity rather than an immediate and ongoing crisis.
Most people don’t picture a male when they imagine a Victim of Domestic or Sexual Abuse. That reaction is not accidental; it’s the result of generations of gender and societal expectations that teach males from a young age to be invulnerable, unemotional, and always in control.
Many people think Emotional Abuse leaves no scars. After all, there are no bruises to point to, no broken bones to mend. But the damage runs deeper than skin. Emotional Abuse slices into the very core of a person, eroding confidence, self-worth, and identity until only fragments remain.
