Little Girls and Powerful Men
The beautiful little girl often brings out the humane side of a powerful man, not always disposed to be humane in attitude. She eventually grows up, not to supersede him, but to only know him as being a humane man – no matter what his detractors may say about him to her. He cares about her for her loyalty and bright fresh youth. Her issues or concerns as a child matter to him, too, such as the welfare of the little animals and birds, connected to the environment. Violence against girls and women he also cares about, and in her honor he expresses this in his professional work.
The little girl notices if the powerful man expresses her interests in his work, and commends him if she ever sees him again. Being a little girl, she usually doesn’t see the powerful man. She grows up with a strong independent sense, however.
He remembers her as his “little boy issues” still exist, and ring true again in the memory of her innocent words. The powerful man is reminded by the little girl’s beauty that brought out his real inner self, the boy he once was and still is, perhaps. He feels he can act on his ideals once again in middle or older age, as he draws confidence and optimism from knowing the little girl.
If he reveals his true face to her as brutal, she may not remember his humane outlook ever existing – and the little girl may grow up to be a woman who doubts her judgment about him as a little girl. She makes the decision that he was a cruel man, and she walks away from the brutal man in her memory.
She may realize that she will be abused by other men one day whom she may like as a woman – because the men may remind her of him, the original abuser – the powerful man. She may conclude that a lack of sophistication in judging his emotional cruelty could make her life a real prison. She may consciously forget she ever liked a powerful man such as he.
He disappears from the woman’s memory, but not the girl’s – as he may haunt her through her life in memory. She may not be able to become close to a man because of his traitorous behavior, and the pain it caused her while a child. Hopefully, she will find someone else who will gain her trust. If the the powerful man was an early attraction for the little girl – she will probably only desire powerful men, for right or wrong.
Emotional insecurity could be the possible lock on a jail for the woman. She was once a little girl with ideals the man she admired could have cherished, but didn’t. Unlike the first model, this type of man was in a position to take advantage of the little girl who once cared for him.
As an adult, she remembers all the powerful men she once knew. She may especially linger on the first one – her father, even if she never knew him well. The mature woman makes assessments about her early relationships and moves on to achieve better relationships with men about whom she may care, in the future – hopefully finding a new powerful man who will be loving and non-abusive to her.
If the little girl now a woman is not careful, she could fall through the abuse trap door, even the terror trap, a deep bottomless well, if she is not aware of her vulnerability.
