i sort of regret using the word "trauma" so much on twitter in the past, i ran into friction as a result which i think partly came from assuming "trauma" involves really *bad* experiences. the thing i want(ed) to talk about is more about really *confusing* experiences
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The equivocation between trauma and weakness has bothered me for a long-time, I think it's part of what's poisoned the word
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Don't let yourself get roped in by the trauma-weakness equivocation.
twitter.com/PrinceVogel/st
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it's tricky because i think some people explicitly or implicitly want the weakness connotation for like, sympathy points or something? and then i think i kept running into people who assumed that that's what i was going for? maybe???
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It's a society-wide thing. The image of being hard-bitten - taking your punches and rolling with them, doesn't get a lot of explicit credit
And on the reverse, the association between emotional life and weakness causes those who value strength to avoid associating with it
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I think consciously or not some of us who wear the trauma label are going for """sympathy points"""
BUT: I also think this is understandable and actually not bad because """sympathy points""" can also mean "time and space to learn and grow in a socially supported way"
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I also think that, at least for me, there's a kernel of hope built into the trauma/weakness connotation because weakness is hella mutable.
eg, "Just because I'm weak today doesn't mean I'll still be weak a year from now"
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Standing to complain and acknowledged vulnerability seems more central than weakness, but our culture fights hard against calling for one without the other.