Someone posted this quote: The wounded child inside many males is a boy who, when he first spoke his truths, was silenced by paternal sadism, by a patriarchal world that did not want him to claim his true feelings. -Bell Hooks, All About Love The wounded child is not just inside of many males, it is inside of females who have been emotionally, physically, and often sexual abused as a way of controlling her. I remember when I started to lose the true essence of who I am. It was when I entered school. I was labeled and targeted simply for existing. When I said things that were deemed private I was told to shut up and stop broadcasting business. Slowly but surely I was chipped away until I became a shell of myself. I wasn't always "shy." I was beaten down into someone who never knew the right thing to say or do so I just wouldn't say or do anything for fear that someone would tell me that what I felt and wanted was wrong. I would get asked how I was doin...