Survivor Identity
The term Survivor has been claimed by many as an empowered alternative for “Victim.” However, any one term can lack the nuance to describe a person’s full experience. This question is intended to expand our understanding of what being a Survivor means and explore whether people resonate with this or not.
Antoinette
"Survivor means you got through something. It doesn't mean you're fully healed, it doesn't mean you're over, you're done, it just means you survived something."
Sara
“I would probably say surviving, rather than survivor. Survivor sounds past tense to me. I feel very much in the trenches. There is an element of survivor that feels defeating.”
Cypress
“There's a lot of different things in life that you can survive. Whether you're surviving domestic violence, surviving abuse, or you're just surviving life. Me personally, I've always been surviving.”
Acacia
"I feel very much in the trenches. So, it doesn't feel past tense at all. Survivor sounds past tense to me."
Chestnut
“So Survivor to me is, is being an ongoing process. Not like I'm a work in progress, but an ongoing process.”
Cedar
“I survived and now I have to figure out how to become me again.”