I posted this sharing on Platinum Light's Weblog yesterday:
It is interesting how so many different people reacted and responded to my honest description of who I am and my personal life experiences written in my personal bio.
Most women applauded my courage and honesty and I think this is because women can relate to my past experiences to a certain extent and that an honest voice regarding women's issues give women a sense of 'united front', so to speak.
My apologies to anyone if they found my personal account offensive, however, I do not apologise for all the experiences I went through that made me who I am today. I do not feel ashamed about my past, neither do I feel a need to keep it private. I am a Life Coach and if I cannot use my own past to inspire others to live their life of meaning, then what I will be teaching will only come from knowledge and not wisdom.
Just so people are aware, date rape is an extremely common occurrence, and in truth should not be kept 'hush hush' as it only exacerbates this 'phenomena'. And most of the time, women only realize that it has happened to them only after the fact. It is more a psychological victimization than a physical one. Often times, these experiences are not in anyway physically violent in nature. Women who experienced date rapes feel dis-empowered and psychologically weak, emotionally needy, and lack self worth. Often times, these qualities are already present in them even before the date rape experience, thus setting them up to be psychological victims of men who get off being a dominator. I am of course, speaking in a more generalized sense and that not every victim of date rape experience it the same way. And that not every date rapist actually planned it as such. Most of the time, the men do not even realise that they are doing anything wrong.
I have counseled women who have been raped by friends, partners and spouses and it is indeed very hard for both the raped and rapist to come to terms to what has happened. You may be surprised to hear this. But this is true even in the case of the date rapist.
This only show us the lack of psychological clarity people are suffering from. We all need to learn basic respect for our fellow human beings instead of living in a reality of self-centredness, but in truth we have a long way to go just by looking at the way the earth, plants and animals are being treated.
Anyway, my point in this sharing is really about expressing myself as a Life Coach and a Counselor and that I come from a position of empowerment, nothing less.