So, you recognize that appropriating AAVE is problematic, yet have no issues marginalizing those groups with diagnosed PTSD by appropriating (and misusing) “trigger warning”? I mean, that is a slap in the face to those of us (fat or not) who have been victims of violent crime, been to combat zones, assaulted, etc and have diagnosed PTSD with actual triggers and flashbacks. Hearing someone talk about diets is NOT a trigger, it’s just something you don’t want to hear. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE. For the record, I’m smallfat, (5'9" 250) a combat veteran and a rape survivor. I get triggered by piles of garbage on the side of the road because insurgents would hide IEDs in piles of trash. On a convoy , we got hit and I lost 50% of hearing in my right ear…and my best friend. He bled to death with shrapnel in his neck. So yeah, garbage by the road is a huge fucking triggger . hearing someone say the war in iraq was a mistake, that’s not a trigger, just something i am offended by. there’s a difference and i think it’s quite insulting to misuse the terminology that we vets (and others) use to communicate with each other, about our experiences and in our subculture.

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I’m thankful for the work you’ve done while in the service and I hope you are getting the help you deserve. That said, it is incredibly harmful for anyone to tell another person what is or isn’t triggering to them. To tell another person what experiences are “enough” to warrant PTSD, especially when the DSM now defines dealing with stigma as a root cause of PTSD and that there are varying degrees. You don’t get to decide what is enough to find something is triggering to another person. I don’t get to decide that either. What is really harmful is when people try to create acceptable reasons for struggling with mental health or disability and building barriers to others who aren’t “struggling enough.”

This is particularly true when you are ignoring that many eating disorders occur as the result of trauma, due to stigma and many normal experiences that fat people deal with. Chance of relapse is a real issue people deal with and seeing weight loss or fat shaming comments can make it worse.

Also, just because you are a fellow fat person does not mean your experience is the experience. It goes not negate the experiences of other fat people including the moderators of this blog.

-FBP

PS. Appropriating AAVE is racist. You shouldn’t have used that as a jumping off point to talk about trigger warnings. Derailing is harmful.