Generational Trauma
*Trigger warning - this blog talks about hypothetical trauma, abuse, and trauma carried through generations. Here's a hypothetical situation: A woman in the middle ages is repeatedly mistreated by a man (it may or may not be her husband). She's so traumatized by this that she vows to protect herself and her future children. She is constantly tense, can never relax, and is in a constant state of hyper-vigilance and anxiety. She goes on to have multiple children - both boys and girls. The girls pick up on her tenseness and begin to copy it in themselves; they also believe men are bad and try to protect themselves as well. Her sons do as well, but they are also treated poorly because of their mother's belief that all men are inherently bad. As a result, they go on to mistreat women because they feel they need to retaliate for the way their mother treated them. The girls assume all men are bad and carry their mother's burden. These children may know why; their