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Cultural Gaslighting: When Your Pain Is Dismissed as “Drama”
Introduction: When Your Truth Is Too Loud for Their Comfort Priya, 26, told her mother she was struggling with anxiety.The response? “Stop watching too much YouTube. You’re just overthinking. Nothing’s wrong.” It wasn’t the first time her feelings were dismissed.And it wouldn’t be the last. For many South Asian daughters, pain is not something to be addressed — it’s something to be silenced.When you speak up, you’re told you’re “dramatic,” “ungrateful,” or “too emotional.”That’s not parenting.That’s cultural gaslighting. What Is Cultural Gaslighting? Gaslighting is when someone manipulates you into doubting your reality.Cultural gaslighting is when entire belief systems are used to deny your emotional truth. In South Asian households, this…
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“Healing the Scarcity Mindset That Tells Me I’m Not Enough Unless I’m Better”
Roumaisa’s POV I was a girl born in a house that prayed for a boy. My name? Roumaisa – it means a woman of excellence, graceful and beautiful in character. But I never felt like I was allowed to live up to it. Growing up, my parents were trying for a son. When I came into the world, they called it a mistake. A failed prayer. I became the daughter dressed like a son—my brother Asghar’s old clothes stitched back and handed to me with a cold smile. No one ever asked what I liked. On Eid, while the other girls wore shimmery salwar kameez and glass bangles, I was…
Daughters of Strength, Bosses by Choice