Young Adults & Teens

Everything I Learned about Dating and Love, I Learned from Cinderella

Where did you learn about love? Who taught you about dating? If you had to answer this question, could you? Maybe you don’t even realize where your concept of dating came from. Perhaps you learned from your parents, family or friends. Maybe you learned from watching Twilight or listening to Pink on the radio? Commonsensemedia.org reports that for teens the main source of information about sex, dating and sexual health comes from what they see and hear in the media. Quite possibly, your concept of love started at even a much earlier age. For so many young girls, the first idea of a romantic relationship comes from fairy tales.

“Once upon a time” is a wistful, nostalgic phrase repeated countless times in the bedrooms of little girls around the world. It sweeps children away into a fantasy land of imagination that helps foster creativity. Fairy tales impart important morals and valuable life lessons. They teach right from wrong and the consequences of making bad choices. They demonstrate that bad things happen to good people, but through hope and perseverance, good will triumph over evil. Albert Einstein once said, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” But what do they teach children about love and relationships?

In Disney’s version of Cinderella, the heroine is possibly the sweetest creature that ever lived. She works as a house servant for her mean stepmother and her nasty step sisters, Anastasia and Drizella. Cinderella sings and dances her way through her daily chores, despite the constant demands of the household. Yet, she dreams for her wish of the heart to come true. Cinderella’s wishes are of course answered in the form of her fairy godmother. With the wave of a magic wand, Cinderella is transformed. She is no longer the servant in rags; she is now the belle of the ball. Cue the prince to enter stage left. He lifts his eyes to see Cinderella and falls in love at the sight of her beauty. A little dancing, a lost glass slipper and a little drama later, they go on to live happily ever after.

So what does this version of Cinderella potentially teach young girls about falling in love?

You are not worthy of love. But if you can magically transform; if you wear the right dress, the right shoes, you too can be loved.
You are not complete without your prince. The longing of your heart can only be filled if he loves you.
Without love, you are nothing. You are only a servant in rags. But with his love you can become a princess. All your troubles will be gone, and you will live happily ever after.

Here’s the truth about love.

You are already loved. You are rooted and established in the love of Christ. (Ephesians 3:17) The only transformation you need to make is to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.
The true longing of your heart can only be filled by the love of Christ. If only you could grasp how wide and long and high and deep is His love, and know that it is this love that completes you. Then you will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:18-19)
You are already a princess, a child able to do immeasurably more than you can ever imagine through your father, the one true King. (Ephesians 3:20) This birthright, that you have only to accept, promises life ever after.

The parallels are so similar; one can’t help but wonder if Christ’s love was Disney’s intended message. Yet, without the Christian context, it’s easy to be misled by the themes expressed in the story. There is danger in continuing to seek fulfillment from another human being, instead of from the one who can truly provide it. The danger is a life filled with disappointment and loneliness. Constantly trying to transform into someone worthy of love in the eyes of world, leaves you incapable of loving yourself. There is no true fulfillment apart from Christ’s love.

Originally posted in the FOCUS Ministries, Inc. Newsletter, Fall 2014.

It Can’t Happen to Me

I am quite simply the poster child for “This Can’t Happen to Me.” I was raised in a stable Christian home. My mom and dad just recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. Both of my parents were raised in loving Christian homes, and so on and so forth for generations. I am the baby of the family, the only girl. I have two older brothers. One was my partner in crime, while the other was more like a father figure. In high school, I was the president of the debate team and floor captain of the volleyball team. I was in all honors courses and got pretty much straight A’s.

Can you see the picture of the perfect middle class upbringing? Of course, my childhood was far from perfect, but it definitely doesn’t fit most people’s picture of where an abuse victim would come from. Yet, it did happen to me.

In college, I began dating a Christian guy, from a good Christian home. After just two dates he wanted a commitment. It was every girl’s dream, right?! He was so attentive and made an effort to listen to the music I liked, study with me, take me dancing, and hang out with my friends. We spent every possible free moment together. When he felt we didn’t get to spend enough time together between school and both of us having part time jobs, I quit my job. He kept his. We’d see another girl walking down the street, and he’d suggest I wear an outfit like hers. Suddenly he didn’t like to dance, and he didn’t like me dancing with anyone else. I stopped going to the places I had gone before I met him. I spent less and less time with my friends.

Over time things escalated even more. My internal warning bells would start to go off. But he said he loved me, so I would ignore them. No one had ever paid this much attention to me before. I was caught between feeling loved by him and being suffocated by him. I desperately wanted him to love me, and I found myself willing to do what I had to do to keep him loving me.

The name calling got worse. He called me things I wouldn’t call my worst enemy. He constantly insisted that I wasn’t a normal girl. A normal girl would do this or that, especially if it related to sex. When he’d get extremely frustrated, he’d put his fist through the wall. His jealousy became all consuming.

After 2 years of dating, he asked me to marry him, and I said yes. A year later, we were married. A month later, he hit me for the first time.

It didn’t matter that I had come from a Christian home or not. It didn’t matter whether I came from a stable home environment or not. It didn’t matter that I came from a middle class family in a good community or not. It still happened to me. It didn’t matter that I managed to complete 2 Bachelor’s degrees and a Master’s degree. It didn’t matter that I was the bread winner for our family. It didn’t matter that we had the perfect house in the perfect suburban neighborhood and 2 kids. It still happened to me.

It happened to me because I did not know any better. Dating violence was not something that happened to someone like me. If it didn’t happen to girls like me, then why should I be aware of it? Why should I know what the warning signs were? Why should I be taught what constituted a healthy relationship versus an unhealthy one? I went to Sunday school. I went to youth group every Sunday. Didn’t I understand just how much God loved me? Didn’t I find myself worthy of that love? Why would I let someone abuse me if I did?

If I had known all of these things, this wouldn’t have happened to me.

Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves.

Ezekiel 33:5

Hindsight is truly 20/20. So let me give you the benefit of my 20/20 vision. You do need to worry about dating violence. Intimate partner violence can affect you, your child, your friend, your neighbor or your parent.

The Dating Bill of Rights

You Have the Right…

To refuse a date without feeling guilty.
To end a relationship.
To have an equal relationship.
To have friends other than your dating partner.
To participate in activities that do not include your partner.
To disagree.
To have your own thoughts and feelings and be able to express them without fear of repercussion.
To say no to physical closeness.
To say “I Love You” without having sex.
To change your mind at any time.
To be treated with respect.
To be yourself, even if it is different from everyone else or from what others want you to be.

Be yourself

Without apology

From the start

Intimate Partner Sexual Violence/Abuse (aka IPSV) – Part 1: What is it?

One of the individuals that approached me this past weekend and told me her story, was a young woman who was a victim of rape at the hands of her boyfriend. She has continued to inspire me with her strength and fortitude to persevere despite not being believed and continued exposure to the young man that raped her. She has also inspired me to look deeper into the incidence of IPSV and acknowledge my personal experience of being repeatedly raped during my ten year marriage. What started out initially as one post devoted to IPSV has become potentially a 5 part series.

The most important thing to realize about IPSV is that one does not have to have physically fought off or said “no” for an act to be regarded as sexual assault. Tears or other expressions of discomfort are reasonable indicators that sexual activity is not desired. Simply put, submission is NEVER the same as consent.

Perpetrators of IPSV use various methods to manipulate or force their partner into having sex. They may use only one or a combination of the following to coerce you into submission:

Threats of violence towards you, your property, pets, family, or friends
Threaten to rape you if you don’t submit
Making you feel guilty for not submitting
Constant, repeated pressure to engage in sex
Interpersonal coercion; such as sulking, anger, blackmail, threats to leave or have affairs
Having affairs and flaunting it
Repeatedly making false accusations of affairs
Pressure to perform acts which make you uncomfortable
Use of physical violence or force such as hitting, choking, or use of weapons
Overpowering you with physical strength, restraining, or holding you down
Continuing a sexual activity after you have indicated you wish it to stop, even if there was initial consent
Withholding affection or freedom until demands of sexual activity are met; “You are not going anywhere until my demands are met.”
Sexual intercourse while asleep or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol
Forcing you to have unprotected sex
Filming or photographing sexual acts without consent
Making sexually degrading comments or name calling, alone or in front of others; “slut” “whore”
Verbally objectifying or degrading your body
Controlling what you wear; pressure to wear revealing lingerie
Minimizing past incidences of rape, denying it was rape or implying that you liked it
Denying sleep until sexual demands are met; sleep deprivation
Forcing you to choose one form of sexual activity in order to avoid something worse
Implying there is something “wrong” with you for choosing not to participate in certain acts; “You’re not normal.”
Demanding details on all past sexual partners; judging your sexual history

At some point in my years of therapy, someone actually acknowledged that I had experienced sexual abuse in addition to the verbal, emotional and physical domestic abuse I had experienced. But that’s where any reference to the sexual abuse ended, let alone ever referring to it as rape. It is very hard for me to reconcile what had become known to me as normal sex in my marriage to rape. But it was rape.

The most common method used to pressure me into having sex was sleep deprivation. I was expected to have sex 2 to 3 times a week. Refusing to submit any less than that was almost unbearable. I was constantly demeaned for my lack of interest in wanting to have sex and for not wanting to be more experimental. There were times that I was pushed out of bed or spit on for not welcoming his advances with open arms. I was called sexually degrading names on pretty much a daily basis. I was constantly accused of touching myself in my sleep. I would lay awake afraid, just waiting for the next wave of assault to begin. Punching holes in the wall, throwing things, they were all ways for him to release his sexual tension when he did not have his expected release. He boiled the entire problem in our marriage down to sex. If I would just have sex, more often, was more into it, wore sexier underwear, allowed him to touch me more, etc., everything would be fine and he wouldn’t be so angry all the time.

After years of this abuse, I could barely stand to kiss him. His touch literally made my skin crawl. Yet I stayed. He was my husband; I was supposed to have sex with him. There were times, especially in the beginning, when I even wanted to have sex with him. He never physically held me down to have sex. Yet I had sex more often than I can count with tears streaming down my face. I may never haven been physically forced, but I WAS forced, and that is by definition rape.

Rape is a crime. It is NOT the victim’s fault. As with other forms of domestic abuse, it is about power. No matter how short your skirt is, whether you’re married or living together, how many times you’ve had sex with them before, or how many dinners they’ve bought for you; no one has the right to force you to engage in sexual activity. And just because you didn’t scream or fight them off, doesn’t mean it isn’t rape.

It takes a tremendous amount of courage to admit what has happened, even to your self. It takes an even greater amount of courage to admit it to someone else. I challenge you to break the silence. Discuss the assault with a friend, a parent, a teacher, a counselor, a hotline, the police. If we break the silence, we take back the power.

I also encourage others to learn more about IPSV and include it when addressing issues of domestic violence and dating violence. IPSV is not just another form of abuse; it’s another form of rape.

Sources:

http://www.aphroditewounded.org

http://www.pandys.org

http://www.bandbacktogether.com/intimate-partner-rape-resources

Domestic Violence Awareness Month – What Can You Do?

In honor of October being Domestic Violence Awareness month, here is what you can do to help raise awareness and make a difference in your community.

Become a prayer warrior to intercede for women in crisis and for the needs of FOCUS Ministries. You will receive a regular update of prayer requests from women worldwide who need to know someone is praying for them, and a list of specific needs relating to the operation of FOCUS Ministries.

Partner with us financially. We are supported by individual and church donations solely depending on the Lord’s provision to carry our work forward. Funding is needed to help us meet the physical needs of families, to continue free counseling and support groups, and to provide Homes of Refuge. As a 501(c)(3) organization, your gifts are tax-deductible.

Start a FOCUS Support Group in your area. Our Train the Trainer seminar will help you with the tools you need and a leader’s manual is available for purchase. Leaders are able to connect with FOCUS representatives to assist them in this process.

Help educate your church or women’s group by inviting the FOCUS team to give a seminar or workshop on domestic violence—what it is and how the church, friends, and family can help.

Represent FOCUS Ministries in your area. Partner with us in distributing information about the newsletter, support groups, and seminars. Help us with creative fundraising through garage sales, walkathons, etc.

Become a FOCUS volunteer. We always have needs for help with office projects, special events, and more.

Support our Homes of Refuge. Big needs require big dreams and FOCUS Ministries has some. Perhaps you can become an integral part to providing a safe place to a family who desperately needs one.

Contribute by clicking. Check out simple ways that you can to earn donations to FOCUS Ministries in conjunction with your regular Internet activity. Every click counts!

Purchase the Teen FOCUS Curriculum. Whether you are a school counselor, youth pastor, educator, or volunteer who works with young people, this tool is a “don’t miss” resource in helping prevent today’s youth from experiencing destructive relationships that will destroy their spirit.

Support Teen FOCUS. Show your support by wearing one of our buttons or ribbons. Give them to your daughters and friends.

Domestic Violence Awareness is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I have been thinking about blogging about this topic for days. Upon stumbling across this amazing post from the Mary Byron Project, I knew I could not say anything better than what has already been said here.

It is my wish that someday men and women will understand the true devastation and the widespread effects of domestic violence.

Physical Constraint

Merriam Webster gives three definitions for constraint:

The checking on one’s true feelings and impulses when dealing with others.
Something that limits one’s freedom of action or choice.
The use of power to impose one’s will on another.

Any woman who has been in an abusive relationship knows firsthand at least one of these definitions if not all of them.

In the beginning when we would fight and things would start to get out of control, I would leave. I would get in the car and just leave. Having already moved 1000+ miles from home, I didn’t have anywhere to go. I did not have anyone to turn to, so I would drive around for an hour, maybe two, before giving up and going back to the house. I don’t remember what would push me over the edge to get in the car and leave, and I probably wasn’t always right in walking away when things got heated. But I do remember being afraid of what he would do while I was gone, especially to my cat. He would threaten to hurt her if I left her with him. He would pick her up and throw her at me and yell at me to take her with me. So I would pack her up in her carrier, and she and I would take refuge in the car.

Eventually, I wasn’t allowed to leave the house when things got too intense. The days of driving around in the car with no place to go soon became a distance memory, a luxury of freedom I would long for. If we were having an argument, no matter how heated it got, there was no walking away. He considered my walking away to be extremely disrespectful, and it meant either I didn’t really love him, or that I was sleeping with someone else. I remember the sheer frustration and anger it would generate, to be confined to a room when you wanted to leave. I pushed, shoved, screamed; I didn’t go down without a fight. The first time he restrained me in a doorway, when nothing else worked I pinched him when he wouldn’t let me through. It was the first time he hit me. He slapped me hard across the face and then just stepped aside.

In the rare event I actually made it out of the room before he could stop me, he would take the car keys or stand in front of the outside door so I couldn’t leave the house. I would try and remove myself to the couch or the guest room. But that was not permitted either. If I didn’t return to the bedroom in a reasonable period of time, I would be physically brought back to the bedroom. This meant being picked up and carried.

On one occasion, I managed to grab the car keys before he could stop me. I barely made it outside and into the car before he bore down on me. With the doors locked and him unable to get to me, he went berserk. There was an old tire in the yard, and he used that to start attacking the car. Terrified, I sat in the car too scared to even drive away, while he pounded and screamed and threw that tire at the car over and over. Once he had worn himself out from throwing the tire or was sure I wouldn’t drive away, or both, he went inside and locked me out of the house.

Eventually my anger and frustration at being restrained started to fade, and as it faded, so did my attempts to fight back against the restraint. The anger gave way to a feeling of defeat and worthlessness and ultimately to acceptance. In the end, I quit trying to leave. I’m not exactly sure of the point in which I crossed over from believing I couldn’t leave, to not even thinking about trying at all. It was probably around the time I had my oldest son. There was no way I was going to leave that house without him, and my husband made it clear there was no way I would leave the house WITH him.

By the time my youngest came, I honestly believed there was no option of my leaving. It saw absolutely no way of being able to leave of my own accord. Instead I would daydream of ways I would finally be free. I would fantasize of my husband dying in a car crash. I would dream of him having an affair and leaving me for another woman. I would often tell him that some other woman would make him happier, that clearly I was the wrong woman for him. Silently I prayed that he would somehow leave me.

They say the average woman in an abusive relationship tries to leave 10 times before she is successful. After the first couple of years we were married, I never tried to physically leave, and I was so trapped mentally by his abuse that I never even imagined a scenario in which I left. But I probably fantasized of him leaving me more than a 1000 times.

Years later, my now ex-husband still does not recognize his actions as abusive. He even recounts events as humorous anecdotes to tell while with friends. One particular story, of my cat sailing through the air and landing in a clothes basket continues to be a party favorite. Once I even laughed along when he told this story, desensitized by his violent behavior. But I am no longer in that dark place of acceptance. The other night while laying in bed with my oldest son, he referenced a story daddy told him of throwing our cat. I am grateful that I am now in a place where I can openly discuss this story with my son and demonstrate to him that violent behavior is not the way to solve his problems as he grows up.

Your Wife is Abusive

To Anonymous,

Your wife is abusive. There is not a doubt in my mind. She might not deliver cuts or bruises (or maybe she does), but the injuries she inflicts do leave scars.

I do not know what it is like to be a man living with an abusive wife. But I do know what it is like to live with an abuser. I do know the effect it can have on you and especially on your children. I know the feelings of confusion, of hurt and despair. I know what it is like to constantly have to walk on egg shells, afraid that something you might say or do or even not say or do could set them off. I know what it’s like to question your own sanity; to question or even believe that you are truly at fault; to wish you could just do exactly what they expect of you so that you can make them happy. I know the fear of what they might say or do to your children. You hold your breath or even get angry with your children when they do something that you know might set your spouse off.

I know it goes against all social norms. I can imagine how it might make you feel to admit that you are being abused by your wife. I am an extremely successful independent woman who made twice as much as my husband, was raised in a Christian household with parents who are still together and have no history of domestic abuse… and I yet still allowed it to happen to me. You are not alone. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you feel afraid of your wifes reaction so much so that you cannot discuss whatever is bothering you?
Does she frequently humiliate you, criticize you or undermine your self- esteem?
Does she try to isolate you from friends and family?
Has she stolen from you (or your children) or run you into debt?
Does your relationship swing from extremes of distance and closeness, as manipulated by her? Such as walking out one day followed by weekends away the next?
Has she damaged or destroyed anything that belongs to you (or other members or your family)?
Do you feel that she controls your life?
Does she act possessive and accuse you of being unfaithful and involved in affairs?
Does she belittle your ideas, thoughts and feelings?
Is any emotional response to her behavior unacceptable?
Do you have to account to her every moment of your time?
Do you have to account for every penny you spend?
Does she threaten or intimidate you to win an argument?
Does she blame you for every problem, even her behaviour towards you?
Does she regularly threaten to leave you or the kids?
Does she make you feel that you are alone and unwanted?
Does she ridicule or insult your beliefs, gender, sexuality or ability?
Does she withdraw approval, appreciation and affection to you or your children?
Does she call you names and shout at you in public? Does she humiliate you in private or in public?
Does she manipulate you with lies and high drama?
Does she manipulate your sexual relationship based on her moods? Seeks sex to make up after an argument?
In sum, she generally makes you feel that you are not good for anything, unwanted, and a burden to everyone.

This list is the same list applied to help a woman realize she is being emotionally abused by a man. I just changed all the he’s to she’s. You don’t have to answer yes to every question either.

When most people think of domestic abuse, they picture a woman who has been physically assaulted. But not all abusive relationships involve violence. Just because you’re not battered and bruised doesn’t mean you’re not being abused. You may think that physical abuse is far worse than emotional abuse, since physical violence can send you to the hospital and leave you with scars. But, the scars of emotional abuse are very real, and they run deep. In fact, emotional abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse—sometimes even more so, especially on a child. Verbal and psychological wounds leave a child forever changed.

Emotional abuse attacks a child’s self-concept. The child comes to see him or herself as unworthy of love and affection.
Children who witness abuse in relationships or emotional spousal abuse demonstrate higher rates of physical aggressiveness, delinquency and interpersonal problems than other children.
The consequences of emotional abuse on a child can be serious and long-term.
- Emotionally abused children may experience a lifelong pattern of depression, estrangement, anxiety, low self-esteem, inappropriate or troubled relationships, or a lack of empathy.
- As teenagers, they find it difficult to trust, participate in and achieve happiness in relationships, and resolve the complex feelings left over from their childhoods.
- As adults, they may have trouble recognizing and appreciating the needs and feelings of their own children and emotionally abuse them as well.
Emotional abuse can result in serious psychological and/or behavioral problems. These include depression, lack of attachment or emotional bond to a parent or guardian, low cognitive ability and educational achievement and poor social skills.

You do not have to live this way. No one should have to live this way. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Her behavior is not your fault. Nothing you have done results in her abusive actions. You can not fix her. I know you have tried. Only she can make the change, and it will take more than talking to a counselor a few times.

By staying in the relationship in its current state you are enabling her abusive behavior, while continuing to put yourself and your chidren at risk.

Love,

Alice Harmon

However dark the world may seem we have a light at our command… -Helen Keller