They never talk about it,
Not when it’s a boy.
Because somehow, pain has a gender,
And if you’re a man, you’re supposed to endure.
They tell you to toughen up,
Be strong, move on,
Like your body wasn’t broken in ways words can’t hold.
Like your spirit didn’t shatter in a room too cold to breathe.
And the worst part?
No one wants to listen.
They laugh it off like it’s a sick joke,
Slap your back and say, “Ah, you’ll be fine, bro.”
As if what happened didn’t crawl beneath your skin,
Didn’t twist your nights into endless fights with yourself.
And when you try to speak, their faces turn blank,
Because society is not built to handle a broken boy.
But let me tell you what it’s like
It’s waking up feeling dirty,
Like your body isn’t yours anymore,
Like your skin betrayed you and the world joined in.
It’s flinching when someone stands too close,
When a hand rests on your shoulder,
Because that touch doesn’t feel safe,
Not anymore.
It’s wondering if you’re still human,
If you’ll ever be whole,
If the memories will stop clawing their way back
Every time the room gets quiet.
And the shame?
It’s heavy.
It makes you sit in rooms full of people
But feel like you’re the only one drowning.
Because who do you tell when no one believes you?
When they say, “You’re a man you’re supposed to want it”?
As if being violated is something anyone would choose.
And the questions haunt you.
Did I fight hard enough?
Should I have screamed louder?
Why didn’t anyone see the fear in my eyes?
But no one asks those questions on your behalf,
Not when you’re a boy.
And society?
They treat it like it’s nothing.
Like your pain is less valid
Because you’re not supposed to hurt like that.
They say, “It happens to girls,”
And brush your wounds under the rug.
But pain does not discriminate.
It does not ask if you are strong or soft,
It just stays.
And the silence? It kills.
It keeps you locked inside yourself,
Afraid to speak because you’re told real men don’t cry,
But inside, you’re breaking into pieces no one sees.
Let me say this,
It’s okay to speak up.
It’s okay to say that your body was taken from you,
That your dignity was stripped away,
That no, you didn’t want it,
And no, it doesn’t make you weak.
You deserve to be heard.
You deserve to be believed.
And you deserve to heal,
No matter who you are.
To anyone listening, stop minimizing the pain.
Stop brushing off the cries of broken boys
As if their wounds are less real.
Because when we ignore their voices,
We force them to carry a burden too heavy to bear alone.
And to the one who knows this pain,
Your story matters.
And no matter what they say,
You didn’t deserve this.
It’s not your fault.
And I promise you,
Healing is still yours to claim.
You are not alone.
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