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In reply to the discussion: Y'know... [View all]Butterbean
(1,014 posts)I know maybe 4 women who haven't been raped or molested. My mother and my sister are not counted among them, either. I knew about girls being raped and assaulted in high school, and when I got to college, the women and their stories just came out of the woodwork. Stories of girls being raped with curling irons, of being raped while passed out, of being snatched on cruise ships and raped while they were young tweens, of being molested by their own fathers who were high at the time.
I can think of only one close friend that I know for sure was never touched (although a grown man exposed himself to her when she was a child), and one more that I *think* has never been molested. That's it. Every. single. one. of my close friends has either been raped or molested. It's that pervasive.
I guess you're even more acutely chagrined by these discussions in light of the fact that you've recently discovered you're having a daughter. All I can say is teach her well (I'm sure you and your wife will do that regardless), and I really liked the book The Gift of Fear, and his companion book Protecting the Gift. It helped me to feel marginally better, and to honor my inner voice much more.