Roll With the Punches

We hear it all the time, and i'm sure it's been around for before I was thought of. "Roll with the Punches" is a very common used phrase to say move a long and keep going forward, don't get off track or take what comes your way. Yes, i'm back on language if you've read any of my other blogs, but could it be a subtle way of saying "just accept the violence." Or stick with the abuse you're going through and move with it the best you can? It was said to me by a dear friend/co-worker just last week and bells went off in my head! I wasn't offended by it, or nor did I get mad but it triggered that internal alarm i've acquired for normalized grammar that is damaging. I've been to busy to write about it until now. "Roll with the punches" is used in many different circumstances, but it's mainly used as a motivational line to not quit or give up, and to keep going. When we acknowledge violence in our language, and normalize it by using it as a tool we create a minimized sense of it's actual severity. I don't want to roll with any punches, and nor should you! I'm not a boxer, but that's the only time I think anyone could be told this phrase and it be acceptable. There's so many alternatives in language that we can use to not desensitize society to violence; we just choose not too! It's the way we're conditioned, it's the way we're taught, etc, etc, etc. blah blah blah. It's a reoccuring cycle of nonsense that is produced in the masses and portrayed to our children and is reiterated by social norms, communities, and families. This is only a very, very, small fragment of the big picture, but it still makes you wonder- where does it end or how far will it go? So next time you're having a difficult time, and don't want to suffer or stay with the abuse that's being handed to you.. don't accept "Roll with the Punches"... You Roll with life, or roll with problems, roll with circumstances and find a positive way to move a long but don't ever "Roll with the Punches" no matter what situation it's given to you in!