When I was a boy if a girl got pregnant the shame was placed on her and the boy could get away.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I have never fully exorcised shames that struck me to the heart as a child except through written violence, shadowy caricature, and dark jokes.
Shame is a fitter and generally a more effectual punishment for a child than beating.
I was doing a children's book on self-esteem, and I really felt like I wanted to shed the shame I'd been feeling - and maybe make it easier for women my age who had probably felt bad about themselves.
There is no shame like poor shame. It can make you warm and charming, bitter and resentful, all at once.
Shame is such an intense emotion. It just can drive you.
In our culture, the shame about accidental pregnancy is inextricable from the shame about having had sex. That disapproval of sex is one reason our record with contraception is so poor. If you're not supposed to be sexual, you don't plan for sex. You cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Shame, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.
Shame is something you'll find a lot of - particularly Catholic - girls feel about their bodies, about their sexuality, about their diet, about anything you like. Shame is the way you keep them down. That's the way to crush a girl.
Time and time again, as a boy, I was humiliated. I celebrated my first day in long pants by going to a dance where I fell sprawling on the floor, and was so ashamed that I jumped up, ran away and left my girl to get home the best way she could.
For some reason, I was born without a sense of embarrassment or shame.