Year after year, we introduce poisoned boys into the cauldron of adulthood and watch them wreak havoc. The outrage has reached a fever pitch over the Stanford swimmer’s convicted rapist’s unusually light sentence—six months in county jail, or as few as three with good behavior—for the brutal rape of an unconscious young woman behind a dumpster. […]
What token of acknowledgement do I bestow upon the man who decided that my resistance and pleas were of less value than the penis he pushed into me? I don’t need flowers or a card, I’ve always been a low-maintenance kind of girl. And I certainly wouldn’t expect you to know that, traditionally, copper is […]
In a culture that stigmatizes those who refuse to forgive, the added stress can lead to poorer health and slower recovery. When I say that I am against forgiveness, I am not judging individuals who choose to forgive. If doing so helps you, then by all means, forgive. What I abhor is a culture that […]
There was no violence, but there was also no communication, love, or respect. There was no mutual or reciprocal understanding. Most importantly, there was no consent. Trigger warning – description of sexual assault I was 18. It was the night before Thanksgiving. My friends and I reunited for the first time since we had started […]
In many ways, my mother’s failure to protect me was much worse than my brother raping me. Trigger warning for rape. In a lifetime of moments, most are quickly forgotten. Only a tiny number are retained, and most of these are filed away in our mind, reminiscences that can be pulled out or put away […]
