Abuse does not always begin with a bruise. Sometimes it begins with humiliation. Sometimes it reaches for your name.In this episode of the We Surv
Abuse does not always begin with a bruise. Sometimes it begins with humiliation. Sometimes it reaches for your name.
In this episode of the We Survive Abuse Podcast, Tonya GJ Prince explores two powerful tactics that can appear in abusive relationships: humiliation and control over a person’s name, identity, and reputation.
Humiliation can be used to make a person feel small in front of others, ashamed of themselves, afraid to speak, or desperate to avoid the next embarrassing moment. Control over names can travel another road. A person may mock your name, replace it with something you never chose, repeatedly call you degrading names, threaten your reputation, impersonate you, or try to decide what other people will believe when they hear your name.
The history of Tina Turner offers a striking doorway into this conversation. Born Anna Mae Bullock, she was given the stage name Tina Turner by Ike Turner, who trademarked the name as their musical partnership developed. Years later, after leaving an abusive marriage, Tina retained the name in their divorce and built an extraordinary solo career under it.
But this episode is not only about Tina Turner. It is about the Survivor whose name has been dragged through family conversations, workplaces, churches, courtrooms, group chats, neighborhoods, and social media. It is about the person who has been laughed at, renamed, embarrassed, impersonated, degraded, or told that somebody else gets to decide who they are.
If someone used humiliation to control you, your shame does not belong where they tried to put it.
If someone tried to damage your name, they did not become the author of your life.
Your name can still carry your work, your history, your dignity, your joy, and everything you build from here.
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