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French Catholic Church News Reminds Us Again – Boys Get Sexually Abused
Actually, I think it usually takes something like this, or the scandal in the Boy Scouts, etc, to remind people that oh yeah, sometimes it’s boys who are targeted en masse for sexual abuse. I suspect we don’t often think about it because, as it turns out, many men don’t feel like they can talk about having been abused.
That’s why it was a bit heartbreaking to read Phil Goldstein’s recent opinion piece:
French Catholic Church abuse report highlights the special toll faced by boys
As Phil points out, for a variety of reasons, male survivors tend not to talk about being an abuse victim, and the numbers back that up.
Responses to Elmo Show How Traumatized Many of Us Are, And How Few People We Can Talk To About It
What I find interesting about this, beyond the obvious take that many people out there are not doing well, is that if you asked this same question to many of your friends, coworkers, and acquaintances, you probably wouldn’t see the same thing. There’s something about trauma-dumping to a fictional character that allows us to be honest without fear that we are too much for people to deal with. I worry about it all the time. If you asked me how I am on any given day, 99% of the time, I’d say something like “Not bad.” I might admit to struggling the other one percent of the time, but also probably downplay it.
Let me tell you a secret. I struggle much more than one percent of the time. I also don’t want people to worry about me, and I don’t want my struggles to be too much for the people in my life. I make my emotions small to protect other people. I know I’m not the only one.
