Charlize Theron will flinch

Charlize Theron says she was severely disciplined and punished for bad behavior while she was growing up, even being spanked and whipped so hard by her by her mother she got welts on her thighs.

“God, I was spanked. I was more than spanked – I was whipped. Definitely. With whatever was around.”

Theron admits she was once hit so hard with a metal coat hanger – for spilling soup on her school uniform – she was left with sores on her thighs.

“I went to school one time with Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse engraved in welts on my thighs from a hanger that my mom grabbed that had all these little Disney cartoons cut out in it. I remember it so vividly, I came home from school, and she said, ‘Change your uniform before you have lunch.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll just take a quick bite of this tomato soup.’ And it drizzled all over. She was busy ironing, and she had all these hangers stacked up. It was so quick – a couple of swipes on the thighs. I remember going to school and showing off my war wounds to my friends.”

Sociologists will tell you that the difference between discipline and abuse is a pool cue. I