Mistreatment can teach us the wrong lessons. It can teach women to question our instincts, ignore our discomfort, and mistake surrendering our boundar
Mistreatment can teach us the wrong lessons. It can teach women to question our instincts, ignore our discomfort, and mistake surrendering our boundaries for kindness, fairness, or compassion.
For example, a woman may say, “I am not comfortable being alone with this man.” Instead of respecting her decision, people pressure her to explain herself, reconsider, or prove she isn’t being unfair.
Her discomfort becomes the problem instead of the pressure being placed on her.
But we can unlearn those lessons. We can recognize manipulation without feeling obligated to cooperate with it. Women do not have to keep proving our goodness by making ourselves vulnerable to harm.
We are allowed to know better now. And we are allowed to protect ourselves accordingly.