I mean, there is a big difference between saying that a woman is in pain/angry/etc and saying that she's damaged. One is an emotion, the other is a flaw.

happened to me because I have certain opinions. Strongly implying that I have been damaged in some way.

It's insulting.

I was damaged as hell, and managed to heal myself. Physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I know women who will never be right. Maybe I'll revert to my personal background. I'll say "fucked up" from now on.

If someone wants to self identify using loaded words like that, that's up to them.

Applying them to women without their agreement that they're ok with it... that's what's fucked up.

...if ever I'm in a situation where I must speak of you, and specifically about harm done to you.

If speaking of you more generally, I wouldn't want to define you in terms of your injuries at all, and would simply call you a woman.

I hope that's all okay, and I hope it might be the approach for me to take when speaking of other women who have been greatly harmed. If not, then I need to know, and understand better.

Thank you.

he went on a smear campaign against me like nothing I could have imagined. He destroyed me. Kicked me to the gutter. And told everyone I knew, everyone he knew, and everyone we knew including our kids, that I was damaged goods. I don't know that any other words have ever hurt me more.

Calling a woman damaged or damaged goods is for one reason and one reason only. To degrade, humiliate and demean, her until her soul is crushed and even she believes she is damaged.

I sincerely hope your understanding does not come from personal experience.

Last edited Sat Feb 15, 2014, 03:14 AM - Edit history (6)

event then the correct medical diagnosis would probably be PTSD.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder =
Post traumatic stress disorder[note 1] (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as sexual assault, serious injury, or the threat of death.[1] The diagnosis may be given when a group of symptoms such as disturbing recurring flashbacks, avoidance or numbing of memories of the event, and hyperarousal (high levels of anxiety) continue for more than a month after the traumatic event.[1]
Most people having experienced a traumatizing event will not develop PTSD.[2] Women are more likely to experience higher impact events, and are also more likely to develop PTSD than men.[3] Children are less likely to experience PTSD after trauma than adults, especially if they are under ten years of age.[2] War veterans are commonly at risk to PTSD.

Classification =
Post traumatic stress disorder is classified as an anxiety disorder; the characteristic symptoms are not present before exposure to the violently traumatic event. In the typical case, the individual with PTSD persistently avoids all thoughts and emotions, and discussion of the stressor event and may experience amnesia for it. However, the event is commonly relived by the individual through intrusive, recurrent recollections, flashbacks, and nightmares.[4] The characteristic symptoms are considered acute if lasting less than three months, and chronic if persisting three months or more, and with delayed onset if the symptoms first occur after six months or some years later. PTSD is distinct from the briefer acute stress disorder, and can cause clinical impairment in significant areas of functioning.[5][6][7]

Causes =
PTSD is believed to be caused by the experience of a wide range of traumatic events and, in particular if the trauma is extreme, can occur in persons with no predisposing conditions.[9][10]
Persons considered at risk include combat military personnel, victims of natural disasters, concentration camp survivors, and victims of violent crime. Individuals not infrequently experience "survivor's guilt" for remaining alive while others died. Causes of the symptoms of PTSD are the experiencing or witnessing of a stressor event involving death, serious injury or such threat to the self or others in a situation in which the individual felt intense fear, horror, or powerlessness.[11] Persons employed in occupations that expose them to violence (such as soldiers) or disasters (such as emergency service workers) are also at risk.[11]
Children or adults may develop PTSD symptoms by experiencing bullying or mobbing.[12]

more at link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTSD