My own opinion is that for every actual person who uses rape porn as a (bad) coping mechanism
PTSD is a very tricky thing. It never goes away. You just have to live with it by learning to navigate around it. I've made posts on this site discussing it, but I've never really touched on sexual trauma because it's not something I have personal experience with. I consider myself incredibly blessed to not have to carry that kind of weight. While I do have some background with psychology,
I am not a therapist, so take all of this with a grain of salt: I know people who engage with their trauma through this sort of art because it's a way of reframing it and "taking control" through simulated scenarios where they have the power to shape what happens in the story. It's like exposure therapy, but without the physical "rap(e)y" part in "therapy". It sounds like a "bad" coping mechanism because it is incredibly extreme, but you have to understand that these people have often exhausted every other avenue of therapy. They're already in an extreme situation, so they're forced to resort to uncomfortable and ugly solutions. It's not a pretty thing and it should not be romanticized. It's a heartbreaking thing. Nobody should have to go through it; but for some people, this is what works. But there are people who would try and take advantage of this unfortunate psychological phenomenon to justify their own sexual proclivities that actually do end up harming victims by exposing them to unexpected triggers!
None of the people posting about it on Bluesky are victims that need to use this as a therapeutic outlet. In my opinion and in my heart, it's sex pests looking for excuses to goon to rape at the expense of actual victims of sexual abuse.
I find distinguishing and acknowledging this important because this is not something that needs to be shared on social media.
The people posting it were not raped or abused in any other sort of similar way, they just find it hot because their brains are wired in a shameful and disgusting way. These people should be mocked and heckled. By engaging with this sort of media without that pain and trauma, they're mocking and making light of the people who really did experience it. Blue team loves to use trauma as a shield, and if they don't have any baggage, they'll just make it up. The ban does nothing but benefit survivors who don't want to be exposed to potential triggers.
Unsurprisingly, I remember this excuse being used on Tumblr as well, and I would remember a few instances where its like "No you see I use extreme guro rape porn to cope!" But if you have a brain and think about it for five minutes, you would think "Why do you need to post that anyway?"
You hit the nail on the head. Nobody needs to see it. You don't need to share it. You do not benefit from exclaiming it from the rooftops. You especially don't need to potentially expose minors to it. But a lot of these people, even back on tumblr, just wanted an excuse to be gross and terrible because they love the feeling of being able to do terrible things without consequence. They just want more ways and reasons to wear labels that make them look pained and downtrodden- even when it's at the expense of truly vulnerable people. Nobody in this thread hates these people enough. None of you.