(ThyBlackMan.com) Are you aware of the word and meaning of CONDITIONING? Do you know what it means to be brainwashed and overpowered into submission? Can you imagine being out smarted, outnumbered and intimidated into going along to get along and despising yourself for being so weak or gullible later? Do you know what it feels like to want to speak up and out against injustice but because you are more terrified of the backlash, you keep your mouth shut?
Can you imagine being on a job and day in and day out you witness disparaging behavior and/or atrocities toward others while being expected to turn a blind eye and keep silent? Why? Because you are literally told to mind your business and that you should be happy to have a job!!!
That’s the trade off! Being employed and able to pay for a roof over your head in exchange for your silence while being disrespected, humiliated, abused and oppressed! Wow! What about the women who work in such an environment and they are expected to put out to stay employed? Yes, it does still happen even in this day and 
time! And you wonder why women who have kept quiet for years suddenly come forth as if they are making it all up! Perhaps they just regained their dignity and sense of self-respect or no longer have anything to lose by revealing the truth.
What do you mean, they no longer have anything to lose? Think of the history and the mindset. Do you remember the song, “Pappa was a rolling stone. Where ever he laid his hat was home?” Men were allowed and encouraged to be promiscuous while women were put down for displaying the same behavior.
Unfortunately, there’s always that old double standard at play! In many cases, women who were violated were led to believe that they controlled the outcome because they encouraged the rape or abuse brought against them. It was an inappropriate outfit, a stare, an alluring look or a comment. In a court of law, the tables were turned against women and they felt violated all over again. In stead of being the supportive husband (or boyfriend), men have been known to dessert women who were violated by others as if it were their fault.
On Saturday or Sunday, I heard a very disturbing video that was posted on Facebook. It used the Biblical history of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife to explain how women have lied about being sexually assaulted (raped). To add insult to injury, the video report was narrated by a woman. No, it shouldn’t matter if it were narrated by a man or woman, but women have also been conditioned to despise being a woman that they passionately with such intensity attack other women. And, although the fact about Joseph and Potiphar’s wife was true, no one knows more about being accused over the years of sexual assault than black men who were sentenced for a crime they didn’t commit.
Historically, they were hang just for looking at white women. However, that still doesn’t negate the fact that statistically speaking more and more women are abused and taken advantaged of everyday on a larger scale than men and they feel helpless to do anything about it! Let’s not forget about the countless number of women in the military who have been sexually assaulted and abused by their fellow officers!
For career and family, some women may lie about not being assaulted out of fear. Some women are even paid off to keep quiet about lured affairs or encounters. Some women simply keep quiet because they fear no one will believe them. Each story or situation is different and each individual is different, so each case should be seriously handled and considered differently.
My heart goes out to ALL!
Staff Writer; Dr. Ann Gwen Mack
