I am always in awe of your bravery Mesa, I know this felt very scary to post. Your stories from childhood will resonate with so many, which is both comforting and unimaginable at the same time. Megyn Kelly is so full of internalized misogyny that she can't even recognize the harm she does to herself, let alone others.
I am also so tired of the repeated calls to "release the Epstein files" as if they contain a truth we don't already know. Western culture was built on subjugation and oppression, where women and children are thought of as property, objects to be used and abused. We must listen to and believe the testimony of survivors; anything less causes further harm. Thank you for speaking your truth, Mesa. I love you and I am listening.
The saddest part about the repeated calls is that people refuse to believe that these horrible things happen. They do not want to believe it. And so proof is demanded. But I don’t think it will sway anyone’s minds who hasn’t already been convinced. Maybe a few, but I don’t know that it would be enough.
If only we would look at the roots of this. If we only we would see the rot.
People would much rather keep burying themselves in the dirt with the truth rather than let it come into the light.
Thank you for sharing your story. I have experienced very similar things and it is awful. Sex object is the proper terminology and one that I hadn’t yet realized until you defined it. Forty years after it happened, I confronted my rapist who had taken my virginity and asked if he had loved me (because he had told me that he did.) Big shock: he hadn’t. You are not alone. Thank you, again, for sharing!
I think it is a good question to ask, for sure. Maybe through inquiry we might learn how to heal the wounds in our society that created it. Maybe…just maybe. 💜
I was three, maybe four, when a man put his hand between my legs in the lingerie department in a big department store where my mother was shopping for underwear. I can still remember the ick of his hand. I only told my mother a few years ago.
Thank you for letting us in to this part of your life... the one that hurt so much, that others have decided is a life girls are of age to experience.
The key word is GIRLS... not women, not of legal age... that girls, not yet mature in body or mind, are biblically ready for sex. Yes, biblically... as people still refer to the maturity of girls in the Bible at 12, 13, 14 having children.
Megyn Kelly, she of the insult by our illegitimate president of "bleeding from wherever"... has decided her voice was needed to approve the Epstein and associates' rapes of GIRLS!
What happened to you, Mesa, was not OK then, should not have been overlooked, and it is definitely not right now. Bringing to light the names of those world leaders, society leaders, economic barons, the politically powerful won't end child rape. What it will do, is rid us of those who have hidden behind their roles in our society despite their power, wealth, social status.
Let the US, finally, do as the King of England did... punish a prince by removing him from the royal family and his wealth, title, position, property. It was enough for the moment, but prison would have been the true proper penalty.
Let the Epstein and Maxwell friends have their names plastered throughout the media. The proof that GIRLS were raped is there in videos, texts, emails, documents. Let the powerful know they're not exempt from punishment.
I know this won't replace your stolen childhood and virginity. But it will finally say to the world, that a child is just that... not a mature person who can make decisions of adulthood concerning sex. Even in the Bible, GIRLS were controlled by their fathers, brothers, other male relatives...men... then it might have been proper...
I recognise this so well: the desire, when young, to be seen as more than a sex object. The way that being objectified causes us to shrink and doubt ourselves. Fifteen year old girls are still girls and anyone who says otherwise is a pedophile apologist.
Mesa, your words land with a clarity that leaves no room for denial. You give shape to what so many carry in silence, and the courage in that is unmistakable. I read your story and the pattern shows itself again — the shrinking, the fear, the guilt that never belonged to you, the way the world trains girls to swallow their voice long before they understand what danger even is.
Thank you for naming all of it. Every story like yours shifts the collective silence a little further open. Every truth forces the world to face what it prefers to hide.
I count myself lucky. I carry none of the childhood violations you describe. Even so, I know the moment when a boundary is crossed by someone who assumes access, someone intoxicated who pushes past a clear refusal. A single moment like that is enough to show how quickly safety dissolves.
What you wrote matters. You matter. And your voice strengthens every person who still wonders if their own story counts.
So sad. So real. So brave. Telling our stories is all of those things. So much harm. We all think it's love. Some of us have the same broken, frozen memories with only flashes of the abuse. Thank you for being courageous enough to write some of it down. Telling our truths is vitally important and excruciating and powerful. All the things. Thank you.
I made an infographic a couple of days back. 1 out of 5 girls was sexually abuse. Give the number of comments right now it is true that 3 out of 4 girls never tell as a girl. You are all not alone. 81% (I reckon more like 95%) of all women experienced at least once sexual violence. The number who talk and whose cases have judicial consequences is unfortunately extremly low, given the fact that probably worldwide every second women experience sexual violence and abuse. Know, you are all not alone. And every one of you , please remember:
Your limits, your sorrow, your losses, and your hurts never touch your intrinsic beauty, your intrinsic worthiness, your intrinsic wholeness, or your intrinsic belonging. Itr is not you. It's culture and them.
Thank you for sharing your story. While I am not a survivor of sexual assault; I am the mother of a son and grandmother to a grandson. My role is and was to raise a man who respects women. And, I influence my grandson the same way. The cycle of abuse (sexual and otherwise) against women has to end. Women who discount/minimize/gaslight—you mention one in your piece—create an unacceptable permission structure for these actions. I stand with and support the survivors!
I am always in awe of your bravery Mesa, I know this felt very scary to post. Your stories from childhood will resonate with so many, which is both comforting and unimaginable at the same time. Megyn Kelly is so full of internalized misogyny that she can't even recognize the harm she does to herself, let alone others.
I am also so tired of the repeated calls to "release the Epstein files" as if they contain a truth we don't already know. Western culture was built on subjugation and oppression, where women and children are thought of as property, objects to be used and abused. We must listen to and believe the testimony of survivors; anything less causes further harm. Thank you for speaking your truth, Mesa. I love you and I am listening.
Thank you friend.
The saddest part about the repeated calls is that people refuse to believe that these horrible things happen. They do not want to believe it. And so proof is demanded. But I don’t think it will sway anyone’s minds who hasn’t already been convinced. Maybe a few, but I don’t know that it would be enough.
If only we would look at the roots of this. If we only we would see the rot.
People would much rather keep burying themselves in the dirt with the truth rather than let it come into the light.
I had to skip parts, Mesa. Too close to home… thank you for writing about what so many of us carry. Brave and powerful words. ❤️
Thank you for reading what you could. 🩵🩵🩵🫂
Powerful. I've written it many times in my mind, and not sure if it will ever be in written form. Peace.
Thank you, Nancy. That’s part of the reason I let the words fall out, because sometimes others can’t. 🩵
You are not alone. I’m still writing and rewriting what happened, because it’s both never enough and too much.
Thank you, Tammi. 🩵🩵
Thank you for sharing your story. I have experienced very similar things and it is awful. Sex object is the proper terminology and one that I hadn’t yet realized until you defined it. Forty years after it happened, I confronted my rapist who had taken my virginity and asked if he had loved me (because he had told me that he did.) Big shock: he hadn’t. You are not alone. Thank you, again, for sharing!
Thank you right back, Tracy. I have often wondered how love came to be weaponized like that. Where in the conditioning of their lives did it happen?
A fruitless question maybe at this point, but one that sometimes haunts me.
I think it is a good question to ask, for sure. Maybe through inquiry we might learn how to heal the wounds in our society that created it. Maybe…just maybe. 💜
I was three, maybe four, when a man put his hand between my legs in the lingerie department in a big department store where my mother was shopping for underwear. I can still remember the ick of his hand. I only told my mother a few years ago.
I have other stories. Too many.
Well done, Mesa, for writing this.
Oh Cesca.. I’m sorry. I see you. 🩵🩵🩵
It’s crazy that there are so many of us.
Thank you for letting us in to this part of your life... the one that hurt so much, that others have decided is a life girls are of age to experience.
The key word is GIRLS... not women, not of legal age... that girls, not yet mature in body or mind, are biblically ready for sex. Yes, biblically... as people still refer to the maturity of girls in the Bible at 12, 13, 14 having children.
Megyn Kelly, she of the insult by our illegitimate president of "bleeding from wherever"... has decided her voice was needed to approve the Epstein and associates' rapes of GIRLS!
What happened to you, Mesa, was not OK then, should not have been overlooked, and it is definitely not right now. Bringing to light the names of those world leaders, society leaders, economic barons, the politically powerful won't end child rape. What it will do, is rid us of those who have hidden behind their roles in our society despite their power, wealth, social status.
Let the US, finally, do as the King of England did... punish a prince by removing him from the royal family and his wealth, title, position, property. It was enough for the moment, but prison would have been the true proper penalty.
Let the Epstein and Maxwell friends have their names plastered throughout the media. The proof that GIRLS were raped is there in videos, texts, emails, documents. Let the powerful know they're not exempt from punishment.
I know this won't replace your stolen childhood and virginity. But it will finally say to the world, that a child is just that... not a mature person who can make decisions of adulthood concerning sex. Even in the Bible, GIRLS were controlled by their fathers, brothers, other male relatives...men... then it might have been proper...
Today it is definitely not.
Thank you, Mike. Appreciate you so much. 🫂🩵
I recognise this so well: the desire, when young, to be seen as more than a sex object. The way that being objectified causes us to shrink and doubt ourselves. Fifteen year old girls are still girls and anyone who says otherwise is a pedophile apologist.
Thank you, Ros. It took me so many years to unshrink, and still I feel it linger sometimes. Thank you for seeing me. 🩵
Mesa, your words land with a clarity that leaves no room for denial. You give shape to what so many carry in silence, and the courage in that is unmistakable. I read your story and the pattern shows itself again — the shrinking, the fear, the guilt that never belonged to you, the way the world trains girls to swallow their voice long before they understand what danger even is.
Thank you for naming all of it. Every story like yours shifts the collective silence a little further open. Every truth forces the world to face what it prefers to hide.
I count myself lucky. I carry none of the childhood violations you describe. Even so, I know the moment when a boundary is crossed by someone who assumes access, someone intoxicated who pushes past a clear refusal. A single moment like that is enough to show how quickly safety dissolves.
What you wrote matters. You matter. And your voice strengthens every person who still wonders if their own story counts.
Thank you for your courage, my friend. xo Jay
Thank you Jay. Always. For seeing me, right to the heart of it all. I can’t explain how much it means to me. Xoxo
You are very welcome my friend. Very welcome.
Thank you for your strength and courage. ❤
Thanks for being here, Nancy. 🩵
Your story is so much like mine. The more stories I hear, the more alike they are.
🩵🩵🩵🫂
So sad. So real. So brave. Telling our stories is all of those things. So much harm. We all think it's love. Some of us have the same broken, frozen memories with only flashes of the abuse. Thank you for being courageous enough to write some of it down. Telling our truths is vitally important and excruciating and powerful. All the things. Thank you.
Thanks so much for your kindness, Judith. 🩵🩵🩵
I stand with you. The girl you were then. The woman you are now.
Thank you, Jazmine. 🩵🩵🩵 Appreciate you. 🩵🩵🩵🫂
I made an infographic a couple of days back. 1 out of 5 girls was sexually abuse. Give the number of comments right now it is true that 3 out of 4 girls never tell as a girl. You are all not alone. 81% (I reckon more like 95%) of all women experienced at least once sexual violence. The number who talk and whose cases have judicial consequences is unfortunately extremly low, given the fact that probably worldwide every second women experience sexual violence and abuse. Know, you are all not alone. And every one of you , please remember:
Your limits, your sorrow, your losses, and your hurts never touch your intrinsic beauty, your intrinsic worthiness, your intrinsic wholeness, or your intrinsic belonging. Itr is not you. It's culture and them.
Thank you. It’s comforting and maddening all at once. ❤️🔥
Thank you for sharing your story. While I am not a survivor of sexual assault; I am the mother of a son and grandmother to a grandson. My role is and was to raise a man who respects women. And, I influence my grandson the same way. The cycle of abuse (sexual and otherwise) against women has to end. Women who discount/minimize/gaslight—you mention one in your piece—create an unacceptable permission structure for these actions. I stand with and support the survivors!
Thank you, Brenda. Appreciate you! 🩵🩵🩵
Thank you for sharing that with all of us…so many people will relate with what you have been through.
So many if not all of us lived this. Thank you for putting it on the page for us all, Mesa.
Thank you for your friendship and support, Kelly. 🩵🩵