As a result, honest relating can be escaped. In these ways, silence can be violent. Silence can be oppressive as women and other marginalized people know. They have been kept in silence by others not valuing or encouraging their thoughts or opinions. It is a way to keep them in their place.
Oppressive silence becomes internalized resulting in a poor self-concept.
Acquiescence is often the response - supposedly to keep the peace in the family or in the work place. It is not just the absence of talk. Silence has substance. It is the presence of something. Thomas Merton claims that silence is our admission that we have broken communication with God and are now willing to listen.