In this first episode of Framing Society, I explore how honor and shame shape lives quietly, especially across Middle Eastern and Iranian spaces.

We talk about the kind of power that lives in tradition, expectation, and social silence.
The kind that doesn’t raise its voice… because it doesn’t need to.

This is not a lecture.
It’s a voice essay, soft, reflective, and maybe a little personal.

🎙 Hosted by Donya
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Power doesn't always shout. Sometimes, it whispers

We Know. We Just Don’t Say It
Most survivors of sexual violence knew the person who hurt them.
But in many families and communities, especially across the Middle East, we don’t talk about that. We protect reputations. We fear shame. We bury what happened even from ourselves.

In this episode, Donya explores the quiet crisis of sexual violence that happens in familiar spaces and why silence has become the most dangerous tradition of all.

This is not a graphic episode. But it is an honest one.
About survival. About shame. About what it means to name what no one ever told you you were allowed to say out loud.

We Know. We Just Don’t Say It : survivors of sexual violence in the Middle East

In many families, especially across the Middle East, physical punishment isn’t seen as abuse. It’s seen as discipline.
You’re told to stay quiet. To be grateful. To remember they did it out of love.

But what happens when the love still hurts?
When does silence become a ritual?
When do you grow up carrying fear disguised as respect?

In this episode, Donya reflects on the unspoken reality of physical violence within families and the cultural scripts that keep us from calling it what it is.
This isn’t a story of blame. It’s one of naming.
Of pausing.
Of asking what gets protected and what gets passed down when we refuse to talk about it.

We Don’t Talk About That

Framing Society

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