On the matter of abuse

Susan at Suburban Guerrilla has some interesting musings on the issue of abuse. I feel the post is worth sharing. After a quote from Everclear's, "Father of Mine," she goes on to write:

Last night I saw "Raw Boys," an intense play by playwright Dael Orlandersmith. It's about the effect abuse has on two brothers - one a writer, the other an actor.

I know so many men who were badly beaten as children. They're wounded, hostile, mistrusting. The sad thing is, men are still made to feel abuse is relatively normal and only weaklings are affected by it, so they rarely claim that pain. Instead, they stuff it down until it erupts later - on others, or on themselves, via chronic anger, substance abuse or depression.

There's a graphic scene in the play where the father beats and kicks his oldest son. It's all the more powerful because the actors never actually touch; they're at opposite ends of the stage.

It brought back far too many memories. It made me physically sick.
What do you do with all that anger and pain? Where does it go? Look how many men justify how they were treated by repeating it with their own children. "My father did it to me, and I turned out okay."

No. No, you didn't, I always tell them.

There's more. Click on the title of this post to read it all.

Thanks, Susan, for a great post.
The BB