micro studies
Micro studies sound like a good way to start off, would be happy to share mine as well.
Although I'm not sure if it will help though.
My apologies for going off on a tangent on that other thread; I have a habit of doing that unfortunately. Will try to stay on topic this time.
Sorry to hear about the troubles your family went through, Aineo.
I had to look up the word harridan, first time I've heard of it.
While I lost both grandfathers before I was born, both my brother and I had okay relationships with Dad. I mean, our parents were the authoritative type. Dad served in the navy in WW2, was a state policeman for many years.
My brother, who is 10 years older than me, never married, has had mutual relationships with women, girlfriends, but nothing serious. He has seen his male buddies get married, divorced, remarried, etc. I should mention he is in not any way, homosexual; like me, he is quite straight.
Like me, during the pre-teen and teen years, he was asexual [nothing sinful about that, BTW].
As for myself, while I was not what would be called "boy crazy" I was certainly not androphobic, either. I have had male friends, and I think I can relate pretty well to males on a general basis.
The extended family did not have any such sexual abuse problems, although my first cousin-in-law had an alcohol problem which led to some problems, obviously, he died ten years ago due to liver problems.
"I have a lesbian niece, a beautiful girl who was sexually molested by her mother's adult cousin when she was nine, the same year her parent's divorced."
You did not mention if the adult cousin of your niece was male or female.
It may have been the authoritative structure of our family, it may have been my parent's own background, it may have been the views we were raised with regarding relationships with the opposite gender, or a combination of all three. Or even our views on marriage -- something Mom and Dad told us, was for "mature adults only and not for 'children'." Here, maturity was not age but instead financial stability, mental stability, a sign of personal responsibility, being able to take care of yourself before you can assume responsibility for a spouse.
I made a big circle here.
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"It sometimes happens that we do not marry at once. It sometimes happens that we marry at last." -- Colette