There’s a particular kind of fear that comes from being sick and unheard at the same time. It’s the moment you realize the person meant to help you has already decided your suffering isn’t real.
shame
We were not born into this world with the belief that we are “less than.” That notion is not innate; it is taught to us over time, until it embeds itself deeply into our identity. It arrives in small, nearly imperceptible moments: like being talked over when we share something, having our ideas questioned more harshly than others’, or being misunderstood repeatedly without anyone attempting to see from our perspective.
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.