He doesn’t beat me.

My father always said that when a man loves you, he’ll correct and discipline you when you’re wrong. Only an incompetent man will leave you to make silly mistakes. He prayed that we found love just like his one for mum before she died. He always failed to mention that she died while disciplining her for going out of the house without his permission.

I met a man but he doesn’t love me enough to discipline me, I do the wrong things just to make him show his love. He doesn’t, maybe he’s not man enough like my dad said. I start arguments but he lets me raise my voice at him. What kind of man is that?

Tomorrow, I’ll end the relationship. I can’t continue to live with someone who cannot raise his hand/belt to correct me when I’m wrong. When my friends ask, I’ll tell them “he doesn’t beat me” and hope they understand.

Note: This is an attempt at recreating a story as told to me and I firmly stand against any form of violence. There are people out there who think that it’s okay to be beaten by their spouses because of how they were socialized. This is wrong and should be discouraged. I also think that no one should blame a victim of such mindset, the best thing to do is educate and resocialize them gradually. They have no idea that they deserve better and our role is to help them realize it. Namaste.