24/11/2025
I Just Want Us to Help People. Not Labels.
Lately, I’ve been sitting with this ache I can’t quite name—a mix of sadness, frustration, and exhaustion.
It feels like the world is so divided, carved up into labels and categories. Everyone seems to belong to a “group” now. And I keep wondering: What about the people who don’t fit neatly into any of it? What about me?
I see support spaces, advocacy, hashtags, and empowerment slogans. And still—I feel like I’ve never had space to speak.
There’s this idea that women have it easier when it comes to emotional expression or asking for help. But that’s not my experience. I’ve spent so much of my life suffering in silence—because I wasn’t allowed to be “too much.” Because I had to stay strong.
I’ve been hurt by men, and told to get over it. And yes—I’ve been hurt by women too. Hurt in ways that are harder to talk about, because we’re not always allowed to admit that. That pain is real too.
I still have compassion. I saw a mental health group for men and I felt recognition. Maybe I’m more like them than anyone realizes—maybe I’ve been silenced too.
But then comes the twist of pain: Why do we need a label to be heard? Why do we only get support if we have a diagnosis, a category, a cause, a campaign?
Why can’t we just help people?
Not “men.” Not “women.” Not “neurodivergent,” “trauma survivor,” “grieving.”
Just… people in pain.
I know labels can help. They can open doors and make the invisible visible. But they can also leave people like me—hurting, but not fitting—outside the circle.
So this is me, writing it down. Not as a complaint. But as a truth:
I’m asking for something simple: Let’s not forget the humans behind the labels. Let’s make space for everyone. Let’s just help people.
That includes me. That includes you.
— Victoria Rose
Start with the story that broke the silence. Find my book, Brass: The Girl Who Counted Everything, through the link in my bio.
