When ‘love’ becomes a language for harm

We are captured by pain, yet can also turn being “right” into violence. Developmental psychologist Yang Rui examines how punishment, endurance, shame, self-exploitation, educational competition, patriarchy, and emotional dependency can all be presented as care.

The course connects body and mind, showing why pain cannot simply be endured through willpower. It challenges familiar claims made “for your own good” in families and schools, and asks how discipline and reward can reproduce control rather than support growth.

Love, power, and gender

From Freud and the invention of the Stockholm syndrome to footbinding, gender roles, romantic independence, and the myth of the alpha male, later episodes reveal how power travels through intimate relationships and even through those who love us.

Drawing inspiration from bell hooks, the series treats love not as instinct or possession but as a choice and an action that supports spiritual growth. Understanding harm is not an accusation against love; it is part of learning how to love without violence.