Why am I triggered by what other people wear? [TW] sexual content, childhood abuse

We as women deal with this constantly but it goes much deeper when we've been sexually abused and blamed for it. We are educated to hate ourselves if we show even a little bit of our bodies or sexuality, it's constantly used against us to hurt us, oppress us and have control over us. That hatred eventually bleeds to the outside. After a while working on this, I realised that what I actually hated was the fact that I was punished and shamed for something that others could do without punishment.

It was a shifted hate: In reality, I hated the people who hurt me, who punished me for wearing X clothes and who suppressed my sexuality and body or used it against me. I hated the men who "couldn't control themselves" and acted like animals when they saw a woman showing skin. I hated that I was educated into thinking that it was normal. That it's just the way men and women are so there's nothing we can do but cover up or we'll be punished. It's a problem in the system that is perpetuated by abuse.

Even if this isn't exactly what you're experiencing, it might help you figure out why you feel that way. Usually with these kinds of triggers, when you get to the root of them you can reframe them. Sorry if this is long, I hope it's helpful in some way.

/r/adultsurvivors Thread