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Parental abuse is normalised in our society in the name of "discipline", not recognised as domestic abuse having long term repercussions.
As a counsellor, the sheer number of clients I have treated for who have severe abuse at the hands of their parents is mind boggling. Parental abuse, which must be classified as a kind of domestic abuse.
I don’t classify behaviour as abuse easily. It’s not just being occasionally rude or bossy.
Abuse is a consistent denial of personal freedom, choice, emotional bullying, calling names, self destructive/addictive tendencies that hurt others and then the denial and pretence around that, gaslighting children when they say it impacts them. An every day erosion of self by parents where your feelings are pushed aside routinely, or you’re called to become the parent and handle an emotionally immature parent repeatedly, or the minute you express hurt, your hurt is overshadowed by how the parent is feeling.
All these kinds of daily minimising of how children experience the world along with a refusal to work on persistent issues, take responsibility for parental behaviour, and of course violence, is parental abuse.
And guess what? In my experience more mothers than fathers are guilty of gaslighting, casual name calling, expecting the child to act as an adult and go between and suppressing a child’s thoughts and desires. Perhaps that is because of the systemic trauma that women experience and their lack of agency in choosing spouses or becoming a mother. The fact that more mothers than fathers are expected to fulfil parenting duties adds to that burden. Mothers are also now expected to bring in income along with all the visible and invisible work that running a household and raising children entails. All of this put together can turn women into monster mothers but that doesn’t take away the child’s pain.
The impact of such parenting that is emotionally and physically violent is often all pervasive, brutal and life long. It can change the way we love, work, see ourselves and treat others. It can make adult kids hit or kill abusive parents or want to do that. It can wreck their bodies and minds for life, destroying their ability to self regulate and manage stress.
And yet, in most families children attempt to love the parent as best as they can. They repeatedly forgive, try to care for them and keep seeking parents’ love and validation try because that is what children do. That desire to be loved comes as naturally to children as the desire to be cared for by children comes to parents. These cycles of effort collapse against each other creating seas of pain that can feel endless and it often is, endless.
Try and work hard to have financial independence, leave when you can or at least put some distance between your family and you. This is not easy at all and in most cases people don’t leave or are forced to maintain connection at some level. That is the twisted nature of these families. You’re entrenched, drowning, but you’re also hard wired to swim. Only it’s like swimming against the current. I wish more for parents take responsibility to heal themselves from generational trauma and rebuild their bonds with hurt children. But that takes more willingness and self awareness than most people have.
So if you can, swim. Find other swimmers so you can create your chosen families. Stick together. And swim very far away where you can repair what remains of yourself.
Take it from someone who has been there, is still there in many ways. Living with a parent like that is like trying to be a plant under tonnes of rock.
#unparenting #consciousparenting
Image source: a still from the film Taare Zameen Par
Reema Ahmad is a relationship and trauma counsellor and author of Unparenting- Sharing Awkward Truths with Curios kids (Penguin 2022). read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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